NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team headed into last Saturday's regular-season finale against St. Olaf with a chance to finish tied for fifth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings with Hamline.

All the Cardinals needed to do was beat St. Olaf, and fifth was theirs.

They did — and it is.

"This was a big, big win for us," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg, whose team got a pair of key doubles wins to open the match and cruised to the 6-3 victory. "We knew coming in that we had a chance to finish tied for fifth in the conference — which is a big step up for us — and the guys went out and got the job done.

"Getting the (2-1) lead in doubles was key," continued Halberg, who got doubles wins from Tyler Stevenson (Neenah, Wis.) and Mark Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.) at No. 1 and from Andrew Pamperin (Menomonie, Wis.) and Tony Miller (Rochester, Minn.) at No. 3. "Those wins seemed to get our confidence going, and everyone just turned it up a notch in singles to get us the win."

Stevenson, Leeder and Miller all notched straight-set singles wins to go with their doubles victories, while Bryan Haville (Onalaska, Wis.) added a three-set, 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 win at No. 3 singles to round out the victory for SMU (4-5 MIAC, 8-10). The victory was the sixth straight for Stevenson at No. 1 singles, and moved the SMU sophomore's record to an impressive 15-3

The SMU women weren't quite as fortunate against the Oles, managing just a No. 1 singles win from Ashley Meschke (Pequot Lakes, Minn.) and a doubles win from Lisa Thompson (Lake City, Minn.) and Liz Hilke (Baraboo, Wis.) in a 7-2 loss.

"The ladies put up a tough fight," said Halberg, whose women closed out the conference season with a 3-7 mark, but could finish .500 overall (10-10) — and with their most wins in school history — with a victory vs. UW-River Falls on Wednesday in their regular-season finale. "There were a lot of great matches, and you have to give St. Olaf all the credit, they got the job done in the end. This team has put up a heck of a fight every time we've taken the court, and they should be proud of what they've accomplished thus far."

Singles
1. Ashley Meschke (SMU) def. Misaki Kodama, 7-6 (4), 6-4
2. Kristen Buchta (O) def. Lisa Thompson, 6-1, 6-3
3. Sarah Prey (O) def. Liz Hilke, 2-6, 6-3, 10-4
4. Jamie Brau (O) def. Emily Strom, 6-3, 7-5
5. Lauren Benson (O) def. Jennifer Cochran, 6-2, 6-2
6. Emily Eggert (O) def. Ann Chow, 6-0, 6-2

Doubles
1. Kodama/Eggert (O) def. Meschke/Strom, 8-5
2. Thompson/Hilke (SMU) def. Benson/Buchta, 8-5
3. Brau/Steffen (O) def. Cochran/Annie Harala, 8-0