WINONA, Minn. — Jeff Halberg has been harping on it all season — if the Saint Mary's University tennis teams were going to be successful in the tough Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, consistency was going to be the key.

Obviously, Halberg was referring to SMU's consistency from top-to-bottom among each team, respectively, but the Cardinals took it one step further against Bethel Saturday, as both the SMU men's and women's team beat the Royals by identical 6-3 scores.

"That was probably our most consistent effort of the season — especially on the men's side," said Halberg. "Bethel had a reasonably deep (men's) team, but our one through four weren't going to be denied."

Tyler Stevenson (Neenah, Wis.), Mark Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.), Geoff Granseth (Winona, Minn.) and Bryan Haville (Onalaska, Wis.) all posted straight-set wins for the Cardinals, while Stevenson-Leeder and Granseth-Haville then teams to complete the win with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, respectively.

Things were eerily similar for the SMU women's team, as Joni Peterson (New London, Minn.), Cassie Czech (Foley, Minn.), Allison Ast (Conway Springs, Kan.), Jennifer Duffy (Chicago, Ill.) and Liz Hilke (Baraboo, Wis.) were singles winners, while Ast and Michele Clarke (Omaha, Neb.) added an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles.

"As big a win as it was for the men's team, it might have been an even bigger one for the women," said Halberg, noting that the Cardinals were victorious, despite the presence of regulars Nicole Hilo (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Angie Beissel (Hastings, Minn.) who had other commitments and could not attend the match. "Not only did it give us our third conference win of the year, but we did it with two starters missing. We needed Michele and Liz to step up and do the job, and they did.

"This was truly a team win and it was great to see."

Singles
1. Tyler Stevenson (SMU) def. Nick Scheevel, 6-1, 6-2
2. Mark Leeder (SMU) def. Anthony Branitsky, 6-1, 6-2
3. Geoff Granseth (SMU) def. Joe Dutcher ,6-2, 6-4
4. Bryan Haville (SMU) def. Pete Brulle, 6-4, 6-4
5. Aaron Freer def. Chad Brusky (SMU) , 6-2, 6-1
6. Chris Brewer def. Dan Fahey (SMU), 6-2, 6-0

Doubles
1. Stevenson/Leeder (SMU) def. Branitsky/Dutcher, 8-6
2. Granseth/Haville (SMU) def. Scheevel/Brulle, 8-3
3. Freer/Brewer def. Andrew Pamperin/Kevin, Wrisky(SMU), 8-2