Box Score

WINONA, Minn. — Jeff Halberg knew exactly what his Saint Mary's University tennis teams were getting into when they opened their season against nationally ranked Carleton Saturday afternoon.

And the Knights lived up to their preseason national ranking, as Carleton cruised to a 9-0 win over the SMU women and posted a 7-2 decision over the Cardinal men.

"Carleton is nationally ranked for a reason — they are very, very good," said Halberg. "We knew coming in that we were going to have a couple of tough matches to open the season, but I thought, for our first match, we played fairly well.

"On the men's side, we were able to pick up a couple of wins, which shows that we definitely have the potential to make a real step forward this year," continued Halberg, who got a three-set, 6-2, 5-7, 10-7 win from Tyler Stevenson (Neenah, Wis.) at No. 2 singles, and a 9-7 No. 1 doubles win from Stevenson and Walter Mannino (Chicago, Ill.). "On the women's side, we had some bright spots, especially in singles, where we put up a real fight, despite starting down 0-3 after the doubles matches."

Other than Stevenson's three-set win, the Cardinal men were shut out against the Knights, as Carleton swept the other five singles matches in straight sets, while also winning 8-2 and 8-0 at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.

Ann Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.) dropped a heartbreaker at No. 2 singles for the Cardinal women, falling 6-1, 4-6, 10-3. The Knights cruised to straight-set wins in the other five singles matches and lost just four games in sweeping the three doubles matches.

"It's tough to lose, but I really feel good about the way several people performed," said Halberg. "It's still very early, but I'm optimistic we can really do some good things this season."