WINONA, Minn. — With back-to-back 9-0 victories tucked safely away in their back pockets, Saint Mary's University women's tennis coach Jeff Halberg knew posting a 9-0 threepeat on Saturday against St. Benedict would be a tough

But not this tough.

The Cardinals managed just one singles victory — a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 2 singles by Nicole Hilo (Mendota Heights, Minn.) — as St. Benedict snapped SMU's two-match winning streak with an 8-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win.

Yet, despite the lopsided final score, things were a lot closer than they appeared for the Cardinals. Joni Peterson (New London, Minn.) lost a marathon three-setter at No. 3 singles, splitting the first two sets, 6-2 and 6-1, only to lose the third set 15-13. Angie Beissel (Hastings, Minn.) also went three sets at No. 6, losing 6-4, 1-6, 10-6.

"This match was much, much closer than the final score indicates," said Halberg. "Every match was a real battle.

"The effort was definitely there," Halberg added. "Now, if we can just trust ourselves a little more under pressure, we can make the breakthrough we are looking for."

Things didn't go any better for the SMU men, who entered Saturday's MIAC contest against St. John's having won three of its last four matches.

Make that three of its last five.

The Cardinals got singles wins from Mark Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.) and Geoff Granseth (Winona, Minn.), but it was not nearly enough, as the Johnnies cruised to a 7-2 victory.

Leeder rebounded from a second-set loss to beat SJU's Scott Loe 6-1, 3-6, 10-8 at No. 2 singles, while Granseth also went the maximum three sets before prevailing 6-2, 4-6, 10-5 at No. 3.

"We started a little slow in the doubles and were never really able to get back into it," said Halberg, whose doubles teams were beaten 8-5, 8-2 and 8-2. "The one, two and three singles matches were fantastic. Tyler (Stevenson) almost pulled off a huge upset at No. 1 — losing 6-4, 6-4 to Mike Solum, who beat the No. 2-ranked player in the country last week.

"If we can continue to play like that, and get our doubles in order, we are going to get our share of wins in the coming weeks."

Singles
1. Tessa Schommer (CSB) d. Amanda Clark, 6-1, 7-5
2. Nicole Hilo (SMU) d. Heidi Waldschmidt, 6-3, 7-5
3. Megan Fitzgerald (CSB) d. Joni Peterson, 6-2, 1-6, 15-13
4. Beth Welle (CSB) d. Allison Ast, 6-3, 6-3
5. Bekka Gilles (CSB) d. Cassie Czech, 7-5, 6-2
6. Anne Sawyer (CSB) d. Angie Beissel, 6-4, 1-6, 10-6

Doubles
1. Schommer-Karen Yokiel (CSB) d. Clark-Hilo, 8-6
2. Waldschmidt-Fitzgerald (CSB) d. Peterson-Czech, 8-5
3. Welle-Molly Feyhe (CSB) d. Ast-Beissel, 8-5