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MOORHEAD, Minn. — Saint Mary's University tennis coach
Jeff Halberg must have felt like he was seeing double Sunday morning as his men's and women's teams played their conference matches against Concordia.
The women were forced to play a third-and-deciding set at Nos. 3-4-5 singles, while the men went the maximum three sets twice against the Cobbers — also at Nos. 3-4 singles — and both teams managed just one win to show for their efforts.
Fueled by those three-set triumphs, the Cobbers handed SMU a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setbacks, as Concordia beat the SMU men 5-4 and the women 6-3.
“You've got to tip your cap to Concordia today,” Halberg said. “They bent, but they wouldn't break. We took them to three sets in three of the six singles contests in both the men's and women's matches, but we came up short in each one — and that really was the difference.”
Bailey Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and McKennah Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) picked up an 8-3 win at No. 1 doubles for the SMU women, but it was the Cobbers who headed into the singles portion of the match with a 2-1 lead.
Lindsey Reinisch (Hastings, Minn.) and Deanne Weber (Reedsburg, Wis.) earned wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively — Reinisch's a 6-4, 5-7, 10-7 marathon — but it was not enough, as the Cobbers swept the top four singles positions — including rallying from a set down to win at both No. 3 and No. 4 — to seal the win.
And it was more of the same for the Cardinal men.
Michael Lunka (Eagan, Minn.) and
Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) — coming off their first loss of the season on Friday against Gustavus — got right back on the winning track with a convincing 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles.
Gavin Smith (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and
Justin Loeffler (Winona, Minn.) chipped in an 8-6 victory at No. 3 doubles to give SMU a 2-1 edge heading into singles play.
Lunka and
Sam Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.) came away with singles wins — Lunka's a 7-6, 6-2 win at No. 1 and Puff's a 5-7, 6-2, 10-4 triumph at No. 3 — but the Cobbers, fueled by a three-set win at No. 4 and a double-tie-breaker, 7-6, 7-6 win No. 5, hung on for the 5-4 victory.
“It was a tough day,” Halberg said. “We had our chances, we just couldn't break them.”
The SMU women (1-3 MIAC, 7-6 overall) hit the road on Wednesday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for an MIAC match against Hamline, while the Cardinal men (1-3 MIAC, 8-7 overall) are back in action on Friday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a conference match against Hamline.