WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team, off since April 1, returns to action — and Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play — on Friday, as the Cardinals host Carleton in a 6:30 p.m. match at the Winona Tennis Center.


The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-4 MIAC | 9-8 Overall)
vs. Carleton Knights (4-0 MIAC | 14-3 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals have been off since April 1, when St. Thomas came into the Winona Tennis Center and handed SMU an 8-1 MIAC setback. … Carleton, meanwhile, is also coming off a lengthy break, having not played since March 31, when the Knights cruised to wins over Concordia (9-0) and Hamline (8-1) in Northfield, Minn.

SMU vs. Carleton — Their Last Meeting:
February 13, 2011: Carleton — winners of the 2010 MIAC regular-season title and an NCAA Tournament participant a year ago — proved to be an ungracious host, as the Knights blanked the Cardinals 9-0 in Lakeville, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals step out of conference play next Friday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 4 p.m. match against Northwestern. … Carleton, meanwhile, continues a busy weekend, traveling to Decorah, Iowa, for a 2 p.m. nonconference match against Luther on Saturday, then heads to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a 1 p.m. match against Coe on Sunday.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Media Guide
Friday's match against Carleton is the second straight home match for the Cardinals, who play two of their final three matches on the road. … SMU's 5-4 win over Hamline on March 30 snapped the Cardinals' two-match losing streak, while also marking the fourth match this season decided by a 5-4 outcome. SMU is 2-2 in those four 5-4 matches. … Michael Lunka (Eagan, Minn.) and Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) continued their dominance at No. 1 doubles vs. St. Thomas on April 1, as the duo cruised to an 8-6 victory, marking their third straight victory and 16th win in 17 matches this season. … With their 16 doubles wins, Lunka-Steingraeber are just two wins shy of the program's single-season doubles wins record, set by Mark Leeder in 2005. … Sam Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.), who had his season- and collegiate career-high nine-match singles winning streak snapped with a 7-6, 2-6, 10-8 loss to Bethel's Reggie Ronning on March 16, is 6-4 in his last 10 matches and leads the team with 12 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 45-57 in singles play, while owning an impressive 35-16 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 from Feb. 24-March 5.

Carleton Knights News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Statistics
Carleton enters Friday's match at Saint Mary's ranked No. 10 in the latest ITA West Region rankings. … With their 9-0 win over Concordia and 8-1 victory over Hamline on March 31, pushed the Knights' winning streak to four straight. … Carleton had its season-high eight-match winning streak snapped with a 9-0 loss to 27th-ranked University of Chicago on March 20 in Hilton Head, S.C. … The Knights are 12-2 in their last 14 matches. … Carleton has finished second to Gustavus in the MIAC standings seven of the last eight years, winning the conference crown in 2010. … Carleton finished 2010 ranked in the top 30 nationally and has ranked in the top 15 regularly for the past eight seasons. … The Knights have three NCAA Championships appearances (1985, 2004, 2010) and matched the school record with 21 victories in 2010. … Carleton returns five All-MIAC players. after finishing as the runner-up to Gustavus in both the regular-season standings and the postseason tournament a year ago. … The Knights return Joe Aranda, Paul Cooper and Austin Jiang who all earned singles and doubles All-MIAC honors last season, as well as doubles all-conference honorees Peter Dunn and Dan Vollmann. … Dan Vollman and Austin Jiang lead the team with nine singles wins, while Paul Cooper and Matthew Ta have each won eight singles matches. … As a team, the Knights are an impressive 70-32 in singles matches this season. … Cooper and Dunn have gone 6-5 in doubles play to lead the Knights, while Jon Aranda-McCoy Becker, and Jiang-Avery Rux have each won four doubles matches. … The Knights have used 15 different doubles combinations this season.