WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team was good against Concordia — and the Cardinals were even better against Martin Luther.

The result? Back-to-back wins that snapped a three-match losing streak and gave the Cardinals their second two-match winning streak of the young season.

The Cardinals posted five singles wins and added wins at No. 1 and No. 2 singles en route to a 7-2 win over Concordia in an MIAC match early in the day, then did that effort one better against Martin Luther, winning the same five singles matches, and sweeping all three doubles matches in cruising to an 8-1 win.

"This was a good day for SMU women's tennis," understated SMU coach Jeff Halberg. "The win over Concordia was a big conference win. We started with singles and just kept things rolling.

"I thought we played equally as well (against Martin Luther," continued Halberg. "Martin Luther is a much-improved team over a year ago and they gave us a very competitive match. Fortunately for us, we were up to the challenge — and enough left in the tank — to come away with our second win of the day."

Ashley Meschke (Pequot Lakes, Minn.), Lisa Thompson (Lake City, Minn.), Liz Hilke (Baraboo, Wis.), Emily Strom (Waterford, Wis.) and Jennifer Cochran (Winona, Minn.) were singles winners vs. the Cobbers, with only Meschke's 4-6, 6-4, 11-9 win at No. 1 singles the only match going the maximum three sets. Meschke and Christina Tobin (Oak Park, Ill.) posted an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles and Thompson-Strom teamed for an 8-1 win at No. 2 doubles to complete the win.

Meschke, Thompson, Hilke, Strom and Cochran put together encore performances vs. Martin Luther, as did Meschke-Tobin and Thompson-Strom. This time, however, Cochran and Annie Harala (Duluth, Minn.) gave SMU a clean sweep in the doubles competition with an 8-6 win at No. 3.


Singles
1. Ashley Meschke(SMU) def. Liz Olson, 3-6, 6-4, 10-5
2. Jenny Joecks(ML) def. Christina Tobin, 7-5, 4-6, 10-8
3. Lisa Thompson(SMU) def. Becky Laitinen, 5-7, 6-0, 10-6
4. Liz Hilke(SMU) def. Kelly Melgren, 6-1, 6-1
5. Emily Strom(SMU) def. Katherine Vallesky, 6-3, 6-3
6. Jennifer Cochran(SMU) def. Katie Fischer, 6-1, 6-2

Doubles
1. Meschke/Tobin(SMU) def. Olson/Laitinen, 8-1
2. Thompson/Strom(SMU) def. Joecks/Melgren, 8-1
3. Cochran/Annie Harala(SMU) def. Vallesky/Fischer, 8-6