WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University tennis teams return to action this weekend, with the Cardinal women' hosting St. Catherine Friday at 4 p.m. at the Winona Tennis Center, while both teams hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Gustavus for 2 p.m. MIAC matches.




The Matchups:
Friday, March 18:
SMU women vs. St. Catherine, 4 p.m.

Saturday, March 19:
SMU women at Gustavus, 2 p.m.
SMU men at Gustavus, 2 p.m.

GameDay Live On The Web:
Video Preview | GameDay Program vs. SCU

Last Action:
The Cardinals have been off since returning from their spring trip on March 8. The SMU women defeated Edgewood College 6-3 and fell to Saint Mary's (Ind.) 8-1 in its two spring trip matches, while the Cardinal men rolled to a 9-0 win over Edgewood, while falling to North Central, 5-4. … St. Catherine is coming off an 8-1 loss at St. Thomas last Sunday, while Gustavus has been off since last Saturday, when the Gustie men beat UW-Whitewater 8-1 and Augustana 9-0 and the GAC women dropped both Augustana (7-2) and UW-Whitewater (7-2).

Last Meeting:
SMU women vs. St. Catherine — March 7, 2010:
Bailey Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and Rebecca Snyder (Eden Prairie, Minn.) won at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively, then teamed for a win at No. 1 doubles in leading SMU to a 5-4 win over the Wildcats at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center.

SMU women vs. Gustavus — April 18, 2010:
Snyder won at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles, but it was not enough, as Gustavus handed the Cardinals a 7-2 setback at the SMU Tennis Center.

SMU men vs. Gustavus — April 15, 2010:
The Cardinals good in their MIAC match against Gustavus, but the Gusties were just a little better, as GAC continued its regular-season dominance of conference opponents, winning its 229th straight regular-season MIAC match with a 9-0 win over the Cardinals at the Winona Tennis Center.

Up Next:
The Cardinal men are back in conference play on Wednesday, traveling to Bethel for a 6 p.m. match, while the SMU women head to Bethel for a 6 p.m. MIAC showdown on Thursday. … St. Catherine begins its spring trip on Monday, taking on Schreiner University in a 3 p.m. match in Kerrville, Texas. … The Gusties begin their spring trip on March 27, as the GAC women head to Atlanta, Ga., kicking things off with a 9 a.m. match against Mary Washington, while the GAC men are off to Claremont, Calif., for spring break. The Gusties open against Middlebury on March 28 at 9:30 a.m.

Saint Mary's Women From The Baseline:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Overall Statistics
Bailey Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) picked up a pair of wins at No. 1 singles during the Cardinals' spring trip, as the SMU junior beat Edgewood's Hannah Pincsak 6-0, 6-0 and Jillian Hurley of Saint Mary's (Ind.) 6-3, 7-6. … With the two straight-set wins, Edwards has now won five straight singles matches to improve to 8-1 overall this season. … With her two wins last weekend, Edwards surpassed Ann Leeder for most career singles wins with 38. Rebecca Snyder (Eden Prairie, Minn.) enters this weekend's matches fifth all-time with 31 singles wins. … Edwards and Snyder are also closing in on the top spot in career doubles wins. Edwards is third with 32, while Snyder is fourth with 31. Aubrey Hirsch owns the career record with 36. … Friday's match vs. St. Catherine is just the second home match of the season for the Cardinals, who dropped their home opener to St. Olaf on Feb. 25.

Saint Mary's Men From The Baseline:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Overall Statistics
The Cardinals had their season-high four-match winning streak snapped with their 5-4 loss to North Central on March 6. … SMU was dominating during its four-match run, winning three straight matches by 8-1 scores, while adding a 9-0 victory over Edgewood. … Mike Lunka (Eagan, Minn.) also had a lengthy winning streak snapped against North Central, as the sophomore lost for the first time in the last six matches when he fall to Matt Boguslawski in three sets, 7-6, 6-7, 10-6. … Lunka enters Saturday's match vs. Gustavus with a team-best six singles wins. … Lunka and Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) collected their fifth straight win at No. 1 doubles with their 8-5 victory vs. North Central. … After losing his first three doubles matches of the season, Steven Mino (Austin, Minn.) has rattled off six straight doubles wins. … Sam Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.) shook off a slow start to the season, rattling off five singles wins in a row heading into Saturday's match. … Tim Wolford (Maple Grove, Minn.) is also coming into Saturday's match vs. Gustavus red hot, as the SMU freshman has won five straight singles matches and is 4-1 in his last five doubles matches. … Lunka and Puff share the team lead with six singles wins, while Wolford is one back with five. … In doubles, Lunka, Steingraeber, and Mino all boast a team-best six wins. … Saturday's match at Gustavus is the sixth straight road match. SMU, which plays 10 of its first 11 matches on the road, does not return home until March 25, when they host UW-La Crosse in a 6 p.m. match.

St. Catherine Wildcat Women From The Baseline:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Overall Statistics
The Wildcats' 8-1 loss to St. Thomas last Sunday was its second straight 8-1 setback and its third loss in a row. … The Wildcats are looking for their first win since a 7-2 victory over Northwestern on Feb. 25. … St. Catherine has won just two individual matches in its four losses — getting an 8-6 win by Lauren Beadnell-Skye Coughlin at No. 2 doubles vs. Saint Benedict on March 5, and a 9-7 triumph by Michaela Burroughs-Danielle Munsterman at No. 1 doubles vs. St. Thomas last Saturday. … In their 7-2 win over Northwestern on Feb. 25, the Wildcats swept the three doubles matches, while getting straight-set singles wins from Beadnell, Coughlin, Mackenzie Weber and Munsterman. … SCU's two losses vs. Northwestern — at No. 2 and No. 3 singles — both went three sets.

Gustavus Gustie Women From The Baseline:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Overall Statistics
The Gusties have dominated the MIAC women's tennis scene, winning 18 straight regular-season conference crowns, while head coach John Carlson has amassed a 202-1 conference record. … Gustavus comes into Saturday's match ranked No. 7 in the latest ITA national poll. … The Gusties enter Saturday's match against Saint Mary's riding a two-match winning streak — having beaten UW-Whitewater and Augustana by identical 7-2 scores last Saturday. … Today's matches against St. Cloud State and SMU are the last before the Gusties embark on a four-match spring trip to Atlanta, Ga. … GAC is unbeaten in MIAC play, thanks to 8-1 and 9-0 wins over Saint Benedict and Hamline, respectively, on Feb. 26. … Alex Erickson enters Saturday's match vs. SMU with a team-leading seven dual-match singles wins. She is 7-2 overall — going 3-0 at No. 3 and 4-2 at No. 4. … Marianne Barau, Sam Frank and Megan Gaard have all won five singles matches for the Gusties. … Frank also boasts a team-leading seven doubles wins, while Alex Erickson and Gaard have six, and Barau, Julie Bardenwerper, and Megan Born all have five. … As a team, the Gusties boast identical 21-9 records in both singles and doubles matches.

Gustavus Gustie Men From Behind The Baseline:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Overall Statistics
The Gusties collected their 22nd straight MIAC regular-season title a year ago, going a perfect 9-0 in conference play. … GAC comes into Saturday's match vs. Saint Mary's red hot, having won four straight — including three by 9-0 decisions and the other by an 8-1 count. … GAC is a perfect 5-0 in conference play, sweeping Hamline, St. Olaf, Bethel and St. Thomas, while recording an 8-1 win over Saint John's. … The Gusties' four losses have come during two, two-game losing streaks — dropping back-to-back season-opening matches to Hawaii Pacific (7-2) and BYU-Hawaii (6-3), while losing 6-3 to both University of Chicago and DePauw on Feb. 26 and 27. … The Gusties boast four players — Patrick Clark, Marcel Gyswyt, Tyler Johnson and Daniel Pomeranc — with seven singles wins, while Juan Luis Chu and Joe MacGibbon both have six. … MacGibbon is a perfect 6-0 on the season, going 2-0 at No. 5 singles and 4-0 at No. 6. … Chu leads the team with nine doubles wins, going 1-0 at No. 2 and 8-1 at No. 3. … Pomeranc, Clark and Amrik Donkena have all recorded eight doubles wins. … As a team, the Gusties are 29-10 in singles play and 29-10 in doubles.