Men's Loras Summary / Women's Loras Summary

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's Universeity men's and women's tennis coach Jeff Halberg knew the importance of his teams' upcoming Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches against Concordia on Sunday.

He also knew his teams couldn't afford to look past Saturday's nonconference matches against Loras, either.

They didn't.

And, Halberg hopes, the Cardinals' convincing wins over the Duhawks will give them some much-needed momentum heading into Sunday's conference matches.

"Both teams needed a performance like this," said Halberg, whose women's team cruised to a 9-0 win over the Duhawks, while the men were almost as perfect, settling for an 8-1 victory. "There was a lot of good tennis played today, and, hopefully, we can carry this positive momentum into two very important conference matches against Concordia on Sunday."

The Cardinal women had little trouble with the Duhawks, losing just 10 games in singles play, while winning 8-4 and 8-1 in doubles play. SMU also had the luxury of forfeit wins at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles. Kayla Lenz (Pequot Lakes, Minn.) did not lose a game in winning her No. 2 singles match 6-0, 6-0, while Val Meschke (Pine River, Minn.), Aubrey Hirsch (Topeka, Kan.), Abby Cooper (La Crosse, Wis.) and Courtney Spartz (Western Springs, Ill.) all won one of their two sets by a 6-0 count.

On the men's side, Walter Mannino (Chicago, Ill.) blanked Loras' Steve Nesteby 6-0, 6-0, while Steve Clements (La Crosse, Wis.), Justin Loeffler (Winona, Minn.) and Tony Clafton (Grand Rapids, Minn.) also won in straight sets. Andy Weigman (Maple Plain, Minn.) needed three sets for his 1-6, 7-5, 10-5 win at No. 4 singles, while #Pawel Szczepkowski# (Opolskie, Poland) dropped a heartbreaker at No. 2, falling 7-5, 7-6.

"I'm very pleased with the effort today," said Halberg. "Everyone played well throughout the lineup."