WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team came oh so close to handing St. Thomas its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss of the season Sunday afternoon.
A break here, or a bounce there, and the Tommies' unblemished conference mark would have been no more.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, that break or bounce never came, as the Tommies held on for a 5-4 win over SMU at the Winona Tennis Center.
“It was a great match, a match that really could have gone either way,” said SMU coach
Jeff Halberg. “We came out pretty strong in doubles, but (St. Thomas') depth in the singles portion really was the difference. We had them on the ropes, but we couldn't get that bounce when we needed it.”
The Cardinals opened a 2-1 lead after the three doubles matches, getting an 8-4 win from
Bailey Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and
Rebecca Snyder (Eden Prairie, Minn.) at No. 1 and an 8-5 win from
Abby Voigt (Burnsville, Minn.) and
Abby Cooper (La Crosse, Wis.) at No. 3.
Edwards and Snyder followed that up with straight-set singles wins at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, but that was all the Cardinals could muster, as UST won the last four singles matches — all in straight sets — to ice their fifth conference win of the season.
“I'm happy with the way the ladies performed,” Halberg said. “They played a great match.”
The Cardinals (2-3 MIAC, 4-3 overall) are back in action on Friday, playing host to North Central (Minn.) in a nonconference match at 6 p.m. at the Winona Tennis Center.
Match Summary vs. St. Thomas
