Match Summary vs. St. Olaf

WINONA, Minn. — It was like starting over for the Saint Mary's University men's and women's tennis teams Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals entered Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches against St. Olaf having not played in more than  two weeks — and, unfortunately for coach Jeff Halberg, it showed.

St. Olaf flexed its muscles and manhandled the Cardinals, rolling to a 7-2 conference win on the women's side, and a 9-0 victory on the men's side.

“We were tentative out there today — that long layoff because of our February break really showed,” said Halberg. “(St. Olaf) came in here with several uninterrupted matches under their belts, while we haven't played in almost two weeks — we just weren't as sharp as we needed to be.”

Rebecca Snyder (Eden Prairie, Minn.) collected the Cardinals' lone singles win in their 7-2 loss, as the Cardinal freshman outlasted St. Olaf's Christine Mueller 7-5, 6-4 at No. 2. Snyder also had a hand in SMU's doubles win, teaming with Bailey Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) for an 8-5 win at No. 1.

The Cardinal men weren't able to crack the Oles' lineup, as St. Olaf posted straight-set wins in all six singles matches, while winning the three doubles matches 8-4, 8-6 and 8-3.

“St. Olaf is a tough, tough team,” Halberg said. “Their lineup is solid top-to-bottom — on both the men's and women's teams.”