Box Score

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team entered Saturday's nonconference match against Northwestern in the midst of a three-match losing streak.

And things weren't going any better for the Cardinal men, who squared off against the Eagles having lost five straight.

That all changed Saturday at the SMU Tennis Center.

Twice.

The Cardinals put together a pair of impressive performances in sweeping the Eagles, as the SMU men did not lose more than two games in any singles match en route to a 9-0 victory, while the Cardinal women also swept all six singles matches in posting a 7-2 triumph.

And the SMU men picked up right where they left off later in the day, as the Cardinals won five of the six singles matches in winning their second straight with a 6-3 win over Minnesota State-Mankato. The Cardinal women weren't quite as fortunate, dropping a heartbreaking 5-4 decision vs. the Mavericks.

"It was a good day for SMU tennis," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg. "The guys have been playing pretty well, but coming up on the short end, so it was nice to see them put it all together — in back-to-back matches".

After struggling through two 9-0 losses, a pair of 8-1 setbacks and a 7-2 loss to Concordia, the SMU men turned the tables against Northwestern in impressive fashion.

How impressive?

Stephen Grundhoefer (St. Paul, Minn.), Thomas Vollman (Oak Park, Ill.), Adam Solseth (Shakopee, Minn.), Steve Clements (La Crosse, Wis.), Tony Miller (Rochester, Minn.) and David Reckase (La Crosse, Wis.) were all straight-set singles winners, dropping a combined 11 games in the 12 sets.

And the SMU women followed their male counterparts' lead, also sweeping the six singles matches. Shannon Cooney (Eden Prairie, Minn.) needed three sets to post her 1-6, 7-5, 10-3 win at No. 1 singles, while Ann Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.), Val Meschke (Pine River, Minn.), Aubrey Hirsch (Topeka, Kan.), Toni Troumbly (Bovy, Minn.) and Brittney Nielsen (Apple Valley, Minn.) were straight-set winners.

The SMU men got off to a slow start vs. Minnesota State, falling behind 2-1 after the three doubles matches, but got the job done in singles.

But it wasn't easy.

Solseth, Miller and Reckase all needed three sets to post their second singles wins of the day, while Solseth needed a first-set tiebreaker to win 7-6, 6-0 at No. 2.

Meschke, Troumbly and Nielsen were all victorious in singles vs. the Mavericks, while Meschke — who pushed her season singles record to 10-1 with wins Saturday — also teamed with Troumbly for an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles.

"I'm very proud of the way both teams battled back (against Minnesota State)," said Halberg, noting that the SMU men needed a big performance in singles, while the women rallied from a 4-0 deficit vs. the Mavericks. "Everyone played very well, and it was encouraging to see us play that well — against a very good team.

"I think we are definitely on the right track."