Box Score

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — Jeff Halberg gave his Saint Mary's University tennis teams a simple pep talk prior to Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches against Bethel.

"Dominate the doubles, and you'll dominate the match," he said.

The Cardinals did — and they did.

SMU won all six doubles matches and never looked back, as the Cardinal men beat the Royals 8-1, while the SMU women extended their season-high winning streak to five straight matches with a 7-2 victory.

"I told both teams before the match that I felt we were capable of sweeping the doubles matches, if we played up our abilities, and that's what they did," said Halberg. "Sweeping those matches really got us rolling and got us the confidence to go out and play at the top of our game."

The SMU men won five of the six singles matches, including straight-set wins by Tyler Stevenson (Neenah, Wis.), Mark Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.), Adam Solseth (Shakopee, Minn.) and Dan Fahey (Brookfield, Ill.), while the SMU women got straight-set singles wins from Ashley Meschke (Pequot Lakes, Minn.), Ann Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.) and Lisa Thompson (Lake City, Minn.), and a three-set, 6-7, 6-4, 10-8 win from Becky Newby (Brookfield, Wis.).

"Both teams played great tennis," said Halberg. "It's been a busy week for the women, and hopefully we can continue to carry this momentum into (Sunday's) matches (against Hamline and Gustavus)."