WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University tennis teams begin a busy home weekend at the Winona Tennis Center with the men hosting UW-La Crosse at 6 p.m. Both teams host Concordia on Saturday, while the SMU women also entertain Winona State Saturday.




The Matchups:
Friday, March 25:
Saint Mary's Men vs. UW-La Crosse, 6 p.m.

Saturday, March 25:
Saint Mary's Women vs. Concordia, Noon
Saint Mary's Men vs. Concordia, 2 p.m.
Saint Mary's Women vs. Winona State, 5 p.m.

Last Action:
The Cardinal men returned to conference play on Wednesday, traveling to Bethel, where the Royals handed SMU a 6-3 setback. The SMU women also head into the weekend following a conference match against Bethel, as the Cardinals downed the Royals 6-3 on Thursday. … UW-La Crosse has been off since March 16, when the Eagles closed out their spring-trip matches in Orlando, Fla., with a 5-4 win over St Scholastica. … The Concordia men have been off since Sunday, when the Cobbers dropped a 6-3 nonconference decision at St. Cloud State, while the CC women enter Saturday's MIAC contest against SMU following a 9-0 nonconference win over Northwestern last Saturday. … Winona State has not had a match since March 9, when the Warriors closed out their spring trip to Orlando, Fla., with an 8-1 loss to Southern New Hampshire.

Last Meeting:
SMU Men vs. UW-La Crosse — March 6, 2008:
UW-La Crosse swept all three doubles matches and won four singles matches in straight sets in handing SMU a 7-2 setback at the then-SMU Tennis Center.

SMU Women vs. Concordia — March 21, 2010:
Bailey Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and Rebecca Snyder combined for three of the SMU women's four wins, but it was not enough, as SMU dropped a 5-4 decision to the Cobbers in Moorhead, Minn.

SMU Men vs. Concordia — March 21, 2010:
The Cardinal men, hobbled by injuries and illness, couldn't match the power of the Cobbers, falling 8-1, in Moorhead, Minn. Michael Lunka (Eagan, Minn.) and Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) teamed up for an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles to account for SMU's lone victory.

SMU Women vs. Winona State — February 27, 2010:
The Cardinals rallied from a 4-3 deficit to beat Winona State 5-4 in a nonconference match at the Winona Tennis Center.

SMU Up Next:
The Cardinal women are back in action on Friday, hosting UW-La Crosse in a 6 p.m. nonconference match, while both the SMU women and men entertain Hamline in conference play on Saturday. Men's match vs. the Pipers is set for noon, with the women following at 2 p.m.

Saint Mary's Cardinal Men From The Baseline:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics
Last Saturday's loss at Gustavus marked just the second time this season the Cardinals were shut out. … 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.) and Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) had their five-match winning streak at No. 1 doubles snapped with an 8-6 loss vs. Gustavus last Saturday. … Lunka had his lengthy six-match singles winning streak snapped against North Central on March 6, as the sophomore fell to Matt Boguslawski in three sets, 7-6, 6-7, 10-6. … Lunka enters the weekend with a team-best six singles wins. … After losing his first three doubles matches of the season, Steven Mino (Austin, Minn.) has rattled off seven doubles wins in his last eight matches — including an 8-0 win vs. Bethel Wednesday. … Sam Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.) shook off a slow start to the season, rattling off six singles wins in his last seven matches, including a straight-set win against the Royals' Matt Halstrom on Wednesday. … Tim Wolford (Maple Grove, Minn.) is also coming into the weekend red hot, as the SMU freshman has won five of his last seven singles matches and is 5-2 in his last seven doubles matches. … Puff leads the team with seven singles wins, while Lunka has recorded six and Wolford is at five. … In doubles, Mino boasts a team-leading seven wins, while Lunka and Steingraeber are at six each. … Wednesday's match at Bethel was the seventh straight road match. SMU, which played 10 of its first 11 matches on the road, now plays back-to-back matches on its home court Friday against UW-La Crosse and Saturday vs. Concordia.

Saint Mary's Cardinal Women From The Baseline
2011 Schedule | 2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics
The Cardinals snapped their three-match losing streak with Thursday's 6-3 win over Bethel on Thursday. … Bailey Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.), who had her six-match losing streak snapped with a three-set, 4-6, 6-0, 10-6 loss to Gustavus' Sam Frank, bounced back with a straight-set win over Bethel's Abby Edin Thursday. … Last Saturday's loss was the second time Frank has beaten Edwards this season, having knocked off the Cardinal junior 7-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional in late September. … Edwards enters Saturday's matches with a team-leading 10 singles wins — with all 10 coming in straight sets. … With her 6-2, 6-0 victory on Thursday, Edwards pushed her school-record singles wins total to 40. … Edwards is also closing in on the top spot in career doubles wins. Edwards — who is 8-4 in doubles play this season — is currently third with 33 doubles wins. Aubrey Hirsch owns the career record with 36. … Killian Edwards is second to her older sister in doubles wins this season with five. … Abby Voigt (Burnsville, Minn.) teamed with Bailey Edwards for an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles Thursday — it was the first time in her collegiate career that Voigt played at No. 1 doubles. … Ten of the Cardinals' first 12 matches were on the road.

UW-La Crosse Eagle Men From The Baseline:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics
The Eagles come into Friday's match against Saint Mary's riding a season-high eight-match winning streak. … All 16 of UW-L's matches heading into Friday's showdown with SMU have been on the road. In fact, Eagles' 25-match schedule includes just one home match — an April 12 matchup against MIAC foe St. Olaf. … The Eagles boast four players with 10 or more singles wins, led by Nick Piotrowski's 12 victories at No. 1 singles. … Piotrowski had his season-high seven-match winning streak snapped with a 3-6, 6-0, 10-8 loss to Jacob Engelstad of St. Scholastica on March 16. … Three of Piotrowski's four singles losses have gone three sets. … Nathan Fekete and Peter Stadum each have 11 singles wins, while Steven Quiring has 10. Fekete is 9-4 at No. 2 singles and 2-0 at No. 3, while Stadum is 3-0 at No. 3 and 8-5 at No. 4, and Quiring is 3-0 at No. 2 and 7-4 at No. 3. … The Eagles' doubles teams of Piotrowski-Stadum and Fekete-Quiring have played every match at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, respectively. Piotrowski-Stadum are 10-6 at No. 1, while Fekete-Quiring are 13-3 — including wins in their last eight straight — at No. 2. … As a team, UW-L is 64-32 in singles play this season, while going 29-19 in doubles action.

Concordia Cobber Men From The Baseline:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Roster | 2011 Statistics
The Cobbers enter Saturday's match have lost two of their last three matches, sandwiching a 6-3 win at Northwestern between a 7-2 loss to Carleton on March 5, and Sunday's 6-3 setback at St. Cloud State. … The Cobbers have only been swept once through their first eight matches, while two of CC's four wins have been by 5-4 counts. … Matt Edin boasts a team-leading seven singles wins for the Cobbers, going 7-2 at No. 1 singles — including wins in each of his last four matches. … David Bloomquist is second on the team with four singles wins, going 1-2 at No. 5 and 3-2 at No. 6. … Edin has also accumulated seven doubles wins to pace the Cobbers, teaming with Devin Larson to go 7-2 at No. 1. … No other Cobber doubles team has more than two wins. … Today's match is the ninth of 10 straight road matches for the Cobbers, who opened the season with a 5-4 home win on Feb. 13, and do not play another home match until entertaining Bethel on April 9.

Concordia Cobber Women From The Baseline:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Roster | 2011 Statistics
The Cobbers come into Saturday's match following an impressive 9-0 win over Northwestern last Saturday. It was CC's second straight 9-0 decision — having fallen to Carleton by that same score on March 5. … Last Saturday's win over Northwestern was the Cobbers' second win in their last three matches. … After opening the season with three straight losses, the Cobbers are 3-2 in their last five matches. … Katie Edin and Andrea Rognlien lead the team with four singles wins each. Rognlien is 4-4 at No. 1 singles, while Edin is 4-4 at No. 2. … Chelsie McGraw enters Saturday's match vs. SMU riding a two-match winning streak. … CC is 20-28 in singles play through eight matches. … Along with their 4-4 records in singles play, Edin-Rognlien are also 4-4 as the Cobbers' No. 1 doubles team. … Like their male counterparts, the Cobbers are at match No. 9 of a 10-match road trip. CC, which opened the season with a 5-4 home loss vs. St. Scholastica, finally returns home on April 5 for a conference match against Saint Benedict.

Winona State Warrior Women From The Baseline:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Roster | 2011 Statistics
Winona State comes into Saturday's nonconference match against Saint Mary's in the midst of a three-match losing streak, having dropped the last three decisions of their four-match spring trip to Orlando, Fla. … WSU's last two losses have both been by 8-1 decisions. … WSU's three-match slide comes on the heels of a season-high three-match winning streak in which the Warriors beat Southwest Minnesota State, UM-Duluth and West Virginia Wesleyan by a combined 26-1. … Three of Winona State's five wins have come by 9-0 scores. On the flip side, the Warriors have not been swept this season. … Heather Pierce, who leads the Warriors with eight singles wins, enters Saturday's match vs. SMU as the second-ranked player in the Central Region. … Pierce is 8-2 at No. 1 singles for the Warriors. … Leah Dahl, who is 4-2 at No. 2 singles, is ranked 10th. … The doubles duo of Pierce and Jessica Urban are ranked fifth in the region.