Box Score

WINONA, Minn. — UW-River Falls made things easy on the Saint Mary's University women's tennis team, but the Cardinals weren't taking anything for granted Wednesday afternoon.

The Falcons showed up at the SMU Tennis Center with just four players, meaning the Cardinals had a 3-0 lead before even stepping on the court.

And when the Cardinals finally left the court less than two hours later, that lead had ballooned to 9-0, as SMU swept the four singles matches and dominated the two doubles matches en route to the nonconference victory.

"The ladies played very well," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg. "We talked before the match that we couldn't afford to be complacent — just because (UW-River Falls) only had four players didn't mean the match was automatically a win for us.

"We didn't take anything for granted and everyone played very well."

Ann Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.), Val Meschke (Pequot Lakes, Minn.), Becky Newby (Brookfield, Wis.) and Aubrey Hirsch (Topeka, Kan.) teamed to sweep the four singles matches in straight sets, dropping a combined 12 games in the eight sets.

Meschke then teamed with Sara Clements (La Crosse, Wis.) for an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles, while Brianna Placek (Greendale, Wis.) and Jenny Pater (Stillwater, Minn.) were 8-3 winners at No. 2.

"This was a good match for us," said Halberg. "It was a great day outside to play everyone came to play."