Box Score

WINONA, Minn. — It was smooth sailing for the Saint Mary's University men's tennis team Saturday afternoon, as the Cardinals posted their third 9-0 victory in their last four matches, cruising past Northwestern in a nonconference match.

The same can't be said for the SMU women, however.

In fact, it was anything but smooth sailing for the Cardinals, who dropped a 7-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference decision to St. Catherine early in the day Saturday, then came out on the short end of a 5-4 nonconference decision to Northwestern.

"It was a tough day for the ladies," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg. "We were missing a few people, so we had to juggle our lineup a bit and that hurt us a little bit."

Add to that the fact that the Cardinals lost all three three-set matches against Northwestern, and it must have felt like the tennis gods were against Halberg's crew.

"We just were not able to get a bounce," Halberg said. "It was one of those days where we needed a little luck, and we just didn't get it."

Colleen Rademacher (Belgrade, Minn.) recorded SMU's lone singles win vs. St. Catherine, posting a 6-2, 6-3 triumph at No. 4, while Becky Newby (Brookfield, Wis.) and Sara Clements (La Crosse, Wis.) were 8-5 winners at No. 2 doubles.

Rademacher and Ann Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.) were the Cardinals' singles winners against Northwestern, while Newby, Aubrey Hirsch (Topeka, Kan.) and Brianna Placek (Greendale, Wis.) were all hard-luck, three-set losers. Newby dropped a 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 decision at No. 2, while Hirsch fell 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 and Placek lost 6-7, 6-0, 10-8 at No. 6.

"If we can get anyone of those three three-set matches to go our way, we win 5-4 instead of losing 5-4," said Halberg. "It just was one of those days."

As disappointed as Halberg was about the way the day went for the SMU women, the performance of his Cardinal men certainly helped ease the pain.

SMU dominated Northwestern, winning all six singles matches in straight sets — including a 6-0, 6-0 shutout by Steve Clements (La Crosse, Wis.) at No. 5 — while dropping just three games in the three doubles matches combined.

"The guys played very well," understated Halberg. "They came out with a business-like attitude and got the job done. It was a nice performance from top to bottom."