Box Score

WINONA, Minn. — After struggling through back-to-back 9-0 losses to Carleton and UW-Eau Claire, the Saint Mary's University men's tennis team finally put it all together Saturday afternoon.

And the Cardinals' best was just what they needed, as SMU swept through the doubles matches and picked up three singles wins en route to a 6-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at the SMU Tennis Center.

"The men came up with a solid win today," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg, whose men rebounded from Friday night's 9-0 loss to UW-Eau Claire with their most complete performance of the season on Saturday. "I was proud of the way we bounced back (after Friday's match). The guys played very well and it was nice to finally get that first win."

After sweeping the doubles matches, SMU got singles wins from Adam Solseth (Shakopee, Minn.), David Reckase (La Crosse, Wis.) and Steve Clements (La Crosse, Wis.) to seal the win.

Unfortunately for Halberg, his women's team wasn't able to make it a clean sweep, as the Scots rebounded from a 2-1 deficit in the doubles portion of the match to edge the Cardinals 5-4.

"It was a very close match throughout — every match was a real battle," said Halberg, noting that, at one point in the afternoon, the Cardinals held a 4-2 lead, only to have Macalester win the three remaining singles matches for the win. "We just weren't able to come up with the key points when we needed them."

Val Meschke (Pine River, Minn.) kept her perfect season in tact with a 6-4, 7-6 win at No. 4 singles, while Shannon Cooney (Eden Prairie, Minn.) picked up the other singles win with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 2.

"I've said all along that there are no easy matches in this conference," Halberg said. "And that certainly proved true today."