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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team headed into Friday's nonconference match on the heels of back-to-back heartbreaking 5-4 losses — and the Cardinals were determined not to make it a three-peat against visiting Northwestern.

And, fueled by straight-set wins in four of the six doubles matches, there would be no three-peat, as the Cardinals collected a 6-3 nonconference victory over the Eagles at the Winona Tennis Center.

“It's nice to see the guys get back on the winning track,” said coach Jeff Halberg said. “Northwestern is a much-improved team over last year and they gave us a tough match. But the guys were up to the challenge and put together a very solid performance.

“Hopefully we can carry that momentum over into our final two matches.”

Michael Lunka (Eagan, Minn.) and Tim Wolford (Maple Grove, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, as the duo combined for an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles that helped propel SMU to an early 2-1 lead, then each picked up singles wins — Lunka 6-3, 7-6 at No. 1, and Wolford 6-2, 7-5 at No. 2 — to seal the win.

Sam Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.) chipped in his team-leading 11th singles win of the season with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 4, while Andrew Rangistch (Oakdale, Minn.) was a 6-3, 6-2 winner at No. 6, and Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) and Steven Mino (Austin, Minn.) combined for an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles.

The Cardinals, who improve to 6-10 overall, return to conference play on Sunday, traveling to Saint John's for a 4:30 p.m. match against the Johnnies.