WINONA, Minn. — If Jeff Halberg and the Saint Mary's University men's tennis team did not believe in Murphy's Law before Tuesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against St. Olaf, they do now.

Anything that could go wrong for the Cardinals, did, as SMU dropped a 6-3 decision to St. Olaf.

"We just couldn't catch a break," said Halberg, whose team slipped to 2-6 in the MIAC and 6-8 overall. "We had match point at No. 3 doubles (and lost), we had set point at No. 2 singles, and Mark Leeder's (Greenfield, Wis.) headband falls in his eyes and he loses the point (and the set). Add to that the face that we looked like the walking wounded after the match … it was just one of those days."

Geoff Granseth (Winona, Minn.) and Bryan Haville (Onalaska, Wis.) accounted for all of the Cardinals' points against the Oles, as Granseth notched a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles, while Haville chipped in a 6-2, 6-3 triumph at No. 4 singles. The two then teamed for an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles.

"It's tough, because the match really was closer than the final score indicates," said Halberg, noting that Tyler Stevenson (Neenah, Wis.) lost his first set at No. 1 singles in a tiebreaker, while Leeder lost his second set at No. 2 singles 7-6, and Dan Fahey and Chad Brusky (Fond du Lac, Wis.) were 9-8 losers at No. 3 doubles. "We were so close to winning 6-3, instead of losing 6-3."

The SMU women also had a pair of matches in their MIAC match against St. Catherine Tuesday, as Angie Beissel (Hastings, Minn.) and Jennifer Duffy (Chicago, Ill.) both went three sets in their No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the other four singles matches were no contest as St. Catherine swept the top four single matches in straight sets — not losing more than two games in any of the eight sets — en route to an 8-1 victory.

"We knew this was going to be a tough match — St. Catherine is a regionally ranked team, and they played like it," said Halberg, whose team was also without the services of top singles player Joni Peterson (New London, Minn.), who is out with strep throat. "Losing Joni really put our backs to the wall, but I thought we responded fairly well. The scores may not indicate it, but there was some great tennis played out there."

Beissel picked up SMU's lone win, winning her three-setter against St. Catherine's Lindsay Miller, 6-3, 3-6, 10-4 at No. 5 singles. Duffy wasn't as fortunate at No. 6, falling 6-1,m 2-6, 10-6.

"The final score may be a little disappointing, but I don't think we have anything to hang our heads about."

Singles
1. Tom Nagel def. Tyler Stevenson (SMU), 7-6(4), 6-3
2. Ted Nagel def. Mark Leeder (SMU), 6-0, 7-6(6)
3. Geoff Granseth (SMU) def. Dan Cohen, 7-5, 6-2
4. Bryan Haville (SMU) def. Matt Sobieski, 6-2, 6-3
5. Ross Bidlevenoer def Dan Fahey (SMU), 6-0, 6-0
6. Mike Matsuwa def. Andrew Pamperin (SMU), 6-3, 7-5

Doubles
1. Nagel/Nagel def Stevenson/Leeder (SMU), 8-1
2. Granseth/Haville (SMU) def. Cohen/Sobiesk, 8-5
3. Matt Clark/Matsuwa def. Fahey/Chad Brusky (SMU), 9-8(1)