ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — Last Wednesday, the Saint Mary's University women's tennis team put together a near-perfect performance in slipping past cross-town rival Winona State by the narrowest of margins, 5-4.

Saturday afternoon, the Cardinals turned in a repeat performance in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against St. Benedict.

Only this time, the Cardinals' best wasn't quite good enough, as the Blazers came away with the hard-fought 5-4 win.

"Once again this group put together an incredible effort against a very strong St. Ben's team," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg, whose Cardinals fell to 3-4 in the MIAC and 5-5 overall with the loss. "Every player played with passion and commitment from the first ball to the last — and I couldn't be more proud of them."

Ashley Meschke (Pequot Lakes, Minn.) and Liz Hilke (Baraboo, Wis.) each picked up straight-set singles wins for SMU, while Christina Tobin (Oak Park, Ill.) needed the maximum three sets to dispatch of the Blazers' Laura Fourre 7-6 (5), 1-6, 10-2 at No. 3 singles.

Meschke also had a hand in SMU's lone doubles win, as she teamed with Emily Strom (Waterford, Wis.) for an 8-3 win at No. 2.

"This was the type of match that easily could have gone either way," said Halberg. "(Against Winona State), we got the breaks we needed to get the 5-4 win — this time, St. Ben's did."

Singles
1. Christin Tiegs (CSB) def. Lisa Thompson, 6-2, 6-0
2. Ashley Meschke (SMU) def. Beth Welle, 6-2, 6-3
3. Christina Tobin (SMU) def. Laura Fourre, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 10-2
4. Liz Hilke (SMU) def. Heidi Waldschmidt, 6-0, 6-3
5. Angela Sigl (CSB) def. Emily Strom, 6-1, 6-3
6. Anne Sawyer (CSB) def. Jennifer Cochran, 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
1. Tiegs/Karen Yokiel(CSB) def. Tobin/Thompson, 8-5
2. Meschke/Strom(SMU) def. Welle/Sigl, 8-3
3. Fourre/Jen Kling(CSB) def. Hilke/Cochran, 8-6