WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, hosting Bethel in a 5 p.m. match at the Winona Tennis Center.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-2 MIAC | 6-5 Overall)
vs. Bethel Royals (0-1 MIAC | 2-2 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals closed out their spring trip in Orlando, Fla., with a 9-0 nonconference loss to Wheaton on March 7. … Bethel, meanwhile, has been off since March 2, when the Royals dropped a 9-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference decision to Carleton at Lakeville (Minn.) Lifetime Fitness.

SMU vs. Bethel — Their Last Meeting:
March 24, 2011: The Cardinals raced out to a 3-0 lead after the three doubles matches, and clamped a vise grip on that lead, as the Cardinals cruised to a 6-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Bethel at Lakeville Lifetime Fitness.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are back in action on March 25, traveling to Moorhead, Minn., for a 9 a.m. conference match against Concordia. … Bethel, meanwhile, kicks off its spring break trip to Orlando, Fla., with an 8 a.m. nonconference match against CUNY on Monday.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Statistics
The Cardinals spring-trip opening match against King's College on March 5 was its first road match of the season. SMU played its first seven matches at the Winona Tennis Center. … The Cardinals opened their four-match trip to Orlando, Fla., with back-to-back wins over King's College (7-2) and Bemidji State (7-2), but dropped their final two matches vs. Haverford (5-4) and Wheaton (9-0). … SMU has lost just seven individual matches in five of their six wins this season — winning three matches by 8-1 scores, while adding a pair of 7-2 victories. … McKennah Edwards, who reached the singles title match at the USTA-ITA Midwest Regional Tournament last fall, enters SMU's conference match against Bethel with a team-best eight singles wins. The SMU freshman is 8-2 in her last 10 matches.  … Lindsey Reinisch (Hastings, Minn.) is second to McKennah Edwards in singles wins with six, while Bailey Edwards and Deanne Webber (Reedsburg, Wis.) each have five. … With her five singles wins this season, Edwards pushed her school-record career singles wins total to 49. … Bailey Edwards also owns the school's career doubles wins total with 48. Bailey and McKennah Edwards are 7-2 at No. 1 doubles this season. … SMU is 29-37 in singles play this season, while boasting a 21-12 mark in doubles action. … The Cardinals are currently ranked No. 24 in the ITA Central Region — marking the first time SMU has earned an ITA Central Region ranking following the nontraditional fall season. … McKennah Edwards is currently ranked No. 9 in the ITA Central Region, while McKennah and Bailey Edwards are ranked No. 15 in the region in doubles.

Bethel Royals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Statistics
Bethel's 9-0 loss to Carleton on March 3 snapped the Royals' two-match winning streak. … The 9-0 loss to the Knights was also Bethel's first match not decided by an 8-1 score — the Royals lost to St. Cloud State and beat UM-Duluth and Northwestern by 8-1 counts. … Bethel boasts five players with two singles wins, as Steph Brown, Shanna Burgmeier, Amanda Johnson, Kristin Vivian and Kayla Wheeler all enter Friday's match vs. Saint Mary's with 2-2 singles records. … Burgmeier and Abigail Kreklau have teamed for a team-best 3-1 mark in doubles play. … Bethel is 10-14 in singles play this season, while going 7-5 in doubles play.