Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — To say the Saint Mary's University men's tennis team is in a rut would be an understatement.

In fact, over the past five matches, the Cardinals have not been able to shift out of first gear.

Saint John's swept all six singles matches — getting straight-set wins in five of the six en route to an 8-1 victory over SMU, handing the Cardinals their fifth straight loss.

"St. John's is a very good team and they played us tough," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg. "I thought the guys battled pretty well, they just ran into a very good team."

Tom Vollman (Oak Park, Ill.) and Stephen Grundhoefer (St. Paul, Minn.) teamed up to post an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles to account for SMU's lone win, while Vollman was also a tough-luck loser at No. 2 singles, falling to SJU's Ted Lauer in three sets, 6-7, 6-4, 10-5.

"I really thought this was a pretty tight match," said Halberg, noting that the Cardinals won at least two games in all 13 singles sets. "We're just going through a tough stretch right now, and hopefully the guys can stick together and battle through it."