Box Score

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team made conference win No. 1 look easy Wednesday evening.

In reality, however, the Cardinals' 8-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference triumph over Bethel was anything but.

"The ladies played probably their best match of the season — they played fantastic," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg. "Bethel is a tough, tough team and we needed to be at the top of our game to get past them."

The Cardinals had to be resilient, too.

After grabbing a 2-1 lead in the doubles competition, the Cardinals swept the six singles matches, but both Shannon Cooney (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Ann Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.) had to bounce back from first-set losses to collect wins at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively.

"This team has been working very hard, and it's nice to see them get rewarded for their efforts," said Halberg, whose team won for the third time in its last four matches, moving to 1-2 in the MIAC and 3-2 overall. "It was a well-played match from top to bottom."