WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team dropped its third straight match Saturday afternoon — but the 9-0 loss to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference power St. Thomas certainly didn't tell the whole story.

"St. Thomas is one of the top teams in the conference, no question about that," said Halberg, whose women's team was also blanked by the Tommies 9-0. "They are solid from top to bottom. I thought we played pretty well against them."

Pretty well?

The Cardinals' Geoff Granseth (Winona, Minn.) took UST's No. 1 singles player, Matt Kramer, to the limit, before falling in three sets, 5-7, 6-2, 10-3. Mark Leeder (Milwaukee, Wis.) also lost a heartbreaker, falling to the Tommies' Brian Thomas 7-5, 6-4.

"There were some great matches," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg. "The problem is, when you play against a team like St. Thomas, you aren't always rewarded for your efforts."

Granseth can certainly attest to that.

Along with his marathon loss at No. 1 singles, the Cardinal junior's best wasn't quite enough at No. 1 doubles, either. Granseth and partner Brad Reichuber (Mahtomedi, Minn.) came out on the short end of a 9-7 decision.

It was a little harder for Halberg to find the silver lining for the Cardinal women, who failed to win a set — or more than two games for that matter — in dropping their third match of the season.

"It's been a tough start to the season," admitted Halberg, whose teams have faced some pretty stiff competition in St. Thomas, NCAA Division II Winona State (9-0 loss for the SMU women, 6-3 loss for the men), and Carleton (8-1 losses). "We'll just keep working to get better, that's all you can do."

Singles
1. Matt Kramer (UST) d. Geoff Granseth, 5-7, 6-2, 10-3
2. Brian Thomas (UST) d. Mark Leeder, 7-5, 6-4
3. Tut Fuller (UST) d. Brad Reichuber, 6-2, 6-2
4. John Thomas (UST) d. Brian Haville, 6-0, 6-2
5. Tom Loper (UST) d. Chad Boyer, 6-0, 6-3
6. John Ryan (UST) d. Jeff Dobbs, 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
1. Kramer-Ryan (UST) d. Granseth-Reichuber, 9-7
2. Fuller-B.Thomas (UST) d. Leeder-Haville, 8-3
3. Loper-J.Thomas (UST) d. Dobbs-Boyer, 8-3