But even Halberg admits he'd be hard-pressed to recall a bigger win than Saturday's 5-4, come-from-behind victory over St. Olaf.

“That could quite possibly be the biggest win in my time here — even bigger than beating St. Thomas four years ago,” said Halberg, after watching his squad win the day's final two matches to rally from a 4-3 deficit and beat the Oles. “St. Olaf finished second in the (MIAC) last year and for us to come away with a win like this, it say a lot about this team.”

The Cardinals raced out to an early 3-0 lead — thanks to doubles wins by Michael Lunka (Eagan, Minn.)-Robert Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) at No. 1, Pawel Szczepkowski (Opolskie, Poland)-Jack Schway (Mendota Heights, Minn.) at No. 2 and Sam Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.)-Justin Loeffler (Winona, Minn.) at No. 3.

That lead, however, was short-lived, as St. Olaf picked up straight-set wins in the first four singles matches to take a 4-3 lead. Lunka swept past St. Olaf's Knute Gundersen 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles to tie the match, 4-4, and Puff rallied from a first-set loss to beat the Oles' Nick Hubbard-Peters 1-6, 7-6, 10-6 at No. 5 to seal the win.

“It was a great finish,” said Halberg, whose team won its second match in as many days to improve to 4-3 overall. “Everyone was pretty pumped after Sam won his match.”

Match Summary vs. St. Olaf