ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team kicks off a busy MIAC weekend on Friday, traveling to Hamline for a 4 p.m. match against the Pipers. SMU then returns home on Sunday, hosting St. Thomas in a 11 a.m. conference match at the Winona Tennis Center.


The Matchups:
Friday, March 30, 2012 | St. Paul, Minn. | 4 p.m.
SMU Cardinals (2-3 MIAC | 8-7 Overall)
at Hamline Pipers (0-2 MIAC | 5-5 Overall)
Sunday, April 1, 2012 | Winona Tennis Center | 11 a.m.
SMU Cardinals (2-3 MIAC | 8-7 Overall)
vs. St. Thomas Tommies (4-0 MIAC | 7-2 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals lost a heartbreaker last Sunday, falling in four of the six singles matches in dropping a 5-4 MIAC decision against Concordia in Moorhead, Minn. … Hamline, meanwhile, closed out its spring trip in Orlando, Fla., with a 5-4 win over UW-Oshkosh on March 22, while St. Thomas closed out its spring trip to HIlton Head, S.C., on March 24 with a 7-2 win over regionally ranked UW-Eau Claire.

SMU vs. Hamline — Their Last Meeting:
April 2, 2011: With four of the six singles matches going three sets — and another needing a set tiebreaker — and two of the three doubles being decided by 8-6 counts, it was certainly no surprise that SMU's match against Hamline ended in a 5-4 decision. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was the Pipers who left the Winona Tennis Center with the hard-earned victory.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — Their Last Meeting:
Feb. 19, 2011: SMU gave St. Thomas everything they had, but the Tommies' depth proved to be too much, as UST handed the Cardinals an 8-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are back on the road on Friday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a conference match against Hamline. … Concordia, meanwhile, kicks off a conference road weekend on Friday, traveling to Bethel for a 4 p.m. MIAC match against Bethel in Arden Hills, Minn., while the Tommies are off until April 12, when they square off against Bethel in a 4:30 p.m. MIAC match in Arden Hills, Minn.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Media Guide
After opening the season with 11 straight nonconference matches, nine of SMU's final 10 matches are Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contests. … Friday's match against Hamline is the second straight road contest for the Cardinals, who are 4-3 away from the Winona Tennis Center this season. … Sunday's 5-4 loss to Concordia marked the third match this season decided by a 5-4 count — SMU is 1-2 in those 5-4 matches. … Michael Lunka (Eagan, Minn.) had a hand in two of SMU's four wins vs. the Cobbers last Sunday, as he posted a straight-set win at No. 1 singles, while also teaming with Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) for an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles. … Lunka-Steingraeber, who suffered their first loss of the season against Gustavus last Friday, improved to 14-1 win Sunday's victory over the Cobbers. … Sam Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.) had his season-high nine-match singles winning streak snapped with a 7-6, 2-6, 10-8 loss to Bethel's Reggie Ronning on March 16. Since that loss, Puff has won two of his last three matches and leads the team with 11 singles wins. … Lunka is second to Puff with eight singles wins, while Gavin Smith (White Bear Lake, Minn.) is third on the team with seven. … As a team, SMU is 43-47 in singles play, while owning an impressive 31-14 mark in doubles. … The Cardinals put together a season-high four-match winning streak with victories over Concordia (Wis.), Ripon, Marywood and King's College, has lost back-to-back matches just once this season.

Hamline Pipers News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Statistics
The Pipers enter Friday's match against Saint Mary's riding a two-match winning streak. HU has also won four of its last five matches, sandwiching a pair of two-match winning streaks around a 6-3 loss to Elmhurst. … Hamline's last three wins have all been by 5-4 decisions. The Pipers' other two wins were both by 7-2 scores. … Bernard Mitambo won his seventh straight match at No. 3 singles with a 6-3, 6-0 victory against UW-Oshkosh on March 22. Mitambo is now 8-2 in singles competitions this season. … Robert Becker is second to Mitambo in singles wins with six, while Andrew Lutz has five and Derek Lutz has four. … As a team, the Pipers are 30-30 in singles play through 10 matches. … Robert Becker-David Croonquist and Brendan Fitzpatrick-Andrew Lutz share the team lead in doubles wins with four each. … The Pipers are 12-17 in doubles play in 2012.

St. Thomas Tommies News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Statistics
The Tommies, who were picked third in the MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, opened the season with four straight wins and have gone 4-2 in their last six matches. … UST's losses have been a 5-2 setback to NCAA Division II St. Cloud State and a 5-4 setback to Hobart (N.Y.). … The Tommies are one of four teams still unbeaten in conference play this season — Gustauvs is 6-0, UST is 4-0 and Carleton and St. Olaf are both 2-0. …  Dan Cooper is 8-2 No. 2 singles and 8-3 in doubles matches — and is unbeaten in UST's four conference matches. … Brian McCarthy is 6-4 at No. 1 singles. … The duo of Cooper and McCarthy are 8-2 at No. 1 doubles — including 4-0 in MIAC matches. … Henry Mandell is also 8-2 in singles matches. … The Tommies are 40-20 in singles matches and 20-10 in doubles matches for the season. … Coach Terry Peck picked up his 500th career victory as the Tommies' men's and women's tennis coach. … UST finished 15-4 a year ago, with all four losses coming against ranked teams