WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team kicks off a busy conference weekend on Saturday, hosting Saint Benedict in a 2 p.m. match, before entertaining St. Thomas at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Both matches will be played at the Winona Tennis Center.



The Matchup:
Saturday, March 31, 2012 | Winona Tennis Center | 2 p.m.
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-3 MIAC | 8-6 Overall)
vs. Saint Benedict Blazers (0-2 MIAC | 0-9 Overall)
Sunday, April 1, 2012 | Winona Tennis Center | 11 a.m.
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-3 MIAC | 8-6 Overall)
vs. St. Thomas Tommies (4-1 MIAC | 8-4 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Action:
The Cardinals picked up their second conference win of the season on Wednesday, rolling to a 7-2 victory over Hamline at the HU Courts in St. Paul, Minn., … Saint Benedict won the battle of MIAC powers against St. Thomas Wednesday, as the Blazers handed the Tommies a 6-3 setback in St. Joseph, Minn.

SMU vs. Saint Benedict — Their Last Meeting:
April 17, 2011: As if playing Saint Benedict at full strength wasn't tough enough, the Cardinals had to do so without its top singles player and both members of their top doubles squad. And the absence of Bailey Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and her sister Killian Edwards showed, as the Blazers handed the Cardinals a 9-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback in St. Joseph, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — Their Last Meeting:
February 19, 2012: St. Thomas jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the three doubles matches and cruised to a 6-3 MIAC victory over the Cardinals handed the Cardinals a 6-3 setback at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals step out of conference play next weekend. SMU travels to De Pere, Wis. to take on Michigan Tech (1 p.m.) and St. Norbert (4 p.m.) on Saturday, then square off against UW-Stevens Point in Stevens Point, Wis. on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. … Saint Benedict is back in action on Tuesday, traveling to Arden Hills, Minn., for a 4 p.m. conference match against Bethel, while St. Thomas is off until April 11, when the Tommies get their shot at Bethel. Match time is set for 4:30 p.m. in Arden Hills, Minn.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Media Guide
This weekend's matches against Saint Benedict and St. Thomas two of SMU's last three home matches of the season. The Cardinals host Macalester in their final home match on April 22. … SMU evened its road recorded at 3-3 with Wednesday's 7-2 win over Hamline. … With Wednesday's victory, the Cardinals' last four wins have all been by 7-2 scores. … SMU has lost just 11 individual matches in seven of their eight wins this season — winning three matches by 8-1 scores, while adding four 7-2 victories. … Bailey Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and sister McKennah Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) enter Wednesday's match vs. Hamline ranked No. 9 in the latest ITA Central Regional rankings. It's the highest regional ranking by an SMU doubles team in coach Jeff Halberg's 14-year tenure. … As a team, the Cardinals are currently ranked No. 25 in the ITA Central Region, while Bailey Edwards is ranked No. 18 in the Central Region in singles play, while McKennah Edwards is 19th. … Bailey and McKennah Edwards had a hand in three of the Cardinals' seven wins vs. Hamline. Bailey won 6-2, 7-5 at No. 1 singles and McKennah was a 6-1, 6-1 victor at No. 2, while the two also teamed for an 8-3 victory at No. 1 doubles. … With their victory at No. 1 doubles, Bailey and McKennah Edwards pushed their record to 10-2 in dual matches and 12-3 overall — including victories in their last three straight. … With Wednesday's wins, Bailey Edwards pushed her school-record career singles and doubles wins total to 51. … McKennah Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) leads the team with 10 dual-match singles wins. Add to that five victories at the USTA-ITA Midwest Regional Tournament last fall — in which she finished second — and McKennah Edwards owns 15 singles wins during her freshman campaign. … McKennah Edwards — who is just two singles wins shy of sister Bailey's single-season record of 17 — is 10-3 in her last 13 singles matches. … Lindsey Reinisch (Hastings, Minn.) — a 6-0, 6-0 winner at No. 5 singles vs. Hamline Wednesday — is second to McKennah Edwards in singles wins with nine, while Deanne Weber (Reedsburg, Wis.) has eight and Bailey Edwards has seven. … SMU is 41-43 in singles play this season, while boasting a 26-16 mark in doubles action.

Saint Benedict Blazers News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule
Saturday's match at Saint Mary's is the second of three straight road matches for the Blazers, who close out their season with eight straight home matches, beginning April 12 against Minnesota State Mankato. … CSB is unbeaten at home this season, while going 3-3 on the road. … The Blazers are one of four teams still unbeaten in conference play — Carleton is 5-0, Gustavus and St. Olaf are both 3-0 and CSB is 2-0.

St. Thomas Tommies News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule
Wednesday's 6-3 loss against Saint Benedict was the Tommies' first conference loss of the season. … Brittany Alexander has enjoyed a stellar freshman season with the Tommies, improving to 8-4 in singles play with a 6-3, 3-6, 10-6 win at No. 3 singles vs. Saint Benedict Wednesday. … Kara Lefsrud has won all five of her conference singles matches and is 8-3 overall in singles play. …  The freshman duo of Alexander and Lefsrud are 7-2 in doubles matches this season. … Kaitlyn Israel is third on the team in singles wins with six. Israel owns a 6-3 singles mark in nine matches. … The Tommie women are 38-33 in singles matches and 19-16 in doubles matches for the season. … The Tommies are a very young squad — 12 of their 14 players are freshmen and sophomores. … Coach Terry Peck picked up his 500th career victory as the Tommies' men's and women's tennis coach.