WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team bent, and bent, and bent some more in its nonconference match against Winona State Wednesday.

But the Cardinals never broke.

SMU dropped the first set in three of the six singles matches — and came back to win all three. In fact, the Cardinals picked up wins in five of the six singles matches en route to their 5-4 win over cross-town rival Winona State.

"This was just an amazing wi for us," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg. "To drop the first set and come back and win those three singles matches was a testament to the desire of this team."

Lisa Thompson (Lake City, Minn.) and Jennifer Cochran (Winona, Minn.) took the "easy" road with straight-set wins at No. 2 and No. 6 singles. The road was anything but easy for Christan Tobin (Oak Park, Ill.), Liz Hilke (Baraboo, Wis.) and Emily Strom (Waterford, Wis.).

Tobin dropped the first set of her No. 3 singles match 7-5, only to rally to win the final two sets, 6-3 and 10-8. Hilke faced a similar predicament at No. 4 singles, where she fell 6-4 in the opening set, before rebounding to win the second set in a tiebreak, 7-6 (4) and the third set, 10-2. Strom fell 6-3 in her first set at No. 5 singles, faced three match points in the second before winning 7-5, and completed the comeback with a 10-5 win in the third set.

"These ladies refused to lose, and I could not be more proud of their performance," said Halberg. "They beat a solid Winona State team — for only the second time in school history — and everyone in the lineup put forth a supreme effort."

Singles
1. Michelle Bailey (WSU) def. Ashley Meschke, 4-6, 6-2, 10-6
2. Lisa Thompson (SMU) def. Megan Newbauer, 6-3, 6-4
3. Christina Tobin (SMU) def. Kattie Katterheinrich, 5-7, 6-3, 10-8
4. Liz Hilke (SMU) def. Jenna Fuller, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 10-2
5. Emily Strom (SMU) def. Maggie Lindquist, 3-6, 7-5, 10-5
6. Jennifer Cochran (SMU) def. Laura Hobert, 6-3, 6-1

Doubles
1. Bailey/Newbauer (WSU) def. Meschke/Tobin, 8-2
2. Megan Hertz/Fuller (WSU) def. Strom/Hilke, 9-8 (6)
3. Katterheinrich/Lindquist (WSU) def. Cochran/Annie Harala, 8-6