Box Score

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — Eight days ago, the Saint Mary's University women's tennis team put the finishing touches on their second straight 8-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

And the Cardinals were flying high.

In the span of those eight days, however, the high-flying Cardinals have been grounded, as Gustavus handed SMU a 9-0 setback, St. Catherine survived three, three-set singles matches en route to a 5-4 victory, and Sunday, Saint Benedict dealt Saint Mary's its third straight loss, cruising to a 7-2 triumph.

"We had so many close matches — again — but we still haven't been able to break through," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg. "We fell behind 4-0 and tried to mount a comeback, but we just couldn't quite get over the hump."

Ann Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.) and Val Meschke (Pine River, Minn.) picked up SMU's two victories, as Leeder posted a three-set, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 win at No. 2, while Meschke pushed her season record to 8-1 with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 3. Aubrey Hirsch (Topeka, Kan.) and Abby Cooper (La Crosse, Wis.) both went to a second-set tiebreaker, but both came up empty in falling in straight sets.

"It was a much better match than the final score indicated," said Halberg. "Everyone is continuing to battle, and, hopefully, we can get some break to go our way pretty soon."