ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team kicks off a busy weekend with a nonconference match at Northwestern Friday. The Cardinals then travel to Owatonna, Minn., to take on St. Olaf on Saturday, before returning home to face Macalester on Sunday.


The Matchups:
Friday, April 20, 2012 | St. Paul, Minn. | 4 p.m.
SMU Cardinals (9-9 Overall) at Northwestern Eagles (8-8 Overall)
Saturday, April 21, 2012 | Carleton's Bell Field Courts * Northfield, Minn. | 11 a.m.
SMU Cardinals (2-5 MIAC | 9-9 Overall) at St. Olaf Oles (4-1 MIAC | 11-2 Overall)
Sunday, April 22, 2012 | Winona, Minn. | 11 a.m.
SMU Cardinals (2-5 MIAC | 9-9 Overall) vs. Macalester Scots (2-3 MIAC | 7-8 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Macalester GameDay Program | Senior Salute
*Links will be live Sunday morning

Last Action:
The Cardinals have been off since last Friday, when SMU dropped a 7-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference decision to Carleton at the Winona Tennis Center. … Northwestern enters Friday's match against Saint Mary's coming off a 6-3 loss to St. Scholastica in Fridley, Minn. … St. Olaf headed into its conference matches against Bethel on Friday and Saint Mary's on Saturday coming off a 7-2 conference setback against Carleton Wednesday in Northfield, Minn. … Macalester entered its weekend MIAC matches against Hamline on Saturday and Saint Mary's on Sunday riding an 8-1 conference victory over Bethel on April 14.

SMU vs. Northwestern — Their Last Meeting:
April 16, 2011: Fueled by straight-set wins in four of the six singles matches, the Cardinals collected a 6-3 nonconference victory over Northwestern at the Winona Tennis Center.

SMU vs. St. Olaf — Their Last Meeting:
February 25, 2011: St. Olaf won three, three-set singles matches and handed the Cardinals a 6-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Winona Tennis Center.

SMU vs. Macalester — Their Last Meeting:
Tim Wolford (Maple Grove, Minn.), Sam Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) earned singles wins for the Cardinals — with Steingraeber recording a three-set, 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 victory at No. 5 — but it was not enough, as Macalester handed SMU a 5-4 MIAC setback in St. Paul, Minn.

Cardinals Up Next:
Sunday's conference match against Macalester is the regular-season finale for the Cardinals.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Media Guide
After its final two road matches on Friday at Northwestern and Saturday at St. Olaf, the Cardinals close out the season at home on Sunday vs. Macalester in senior Justin Loeffler's (Winona, Minn.) final collegiate home match. … Heading into the weekend, the Cardinals were still in the hunt for one of the six MIAC playoff spots. SMU and Macalester headed into the weekend tied for the sixth and final post-season position — one win back of fifth-place Saint John's. While Sunday's match vs. the Scots is SMU's final match of the regular season, Macalester still has MIAC matches vs. Saint John's and Carleton, and the Johnnies still have Macalester and St. Olaf on their schedule. … Michael Lunka (Eagan, Minn.) and Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) continued their dominance at No. 1 doubles vs. Carleton on April 13, as the duo cruised to an 8-5 victory, marking their fourth straight victory and the 17th win in 18 matches this season. … With their 17 doubles wins, Lunka and Steingraeber are both just one win shy of the program's single-season doubles wins record, set by Mark Leeder in 2005. … At 17-1, Lunka and Steingraeber also lead all MIAC doubles teams. … 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, leads the team with 12 singles wins. … Lunka and Gavin Smith (White Bear Lake, Minn.) — a 6-4, 5-7, 10-6 winner against Carleton on April 13 — are second to Puff with eight singles wins. … As a team, SMU is 46-62 in singles play, while owning an impressive 36-18 mark in doubles. … SMU's 5-4 win over Hamline on March 30 marking the fourth match this season decided by a 5-4 outcome. SMU is 2-2 in those four 5-4 matches. … 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.

Northwestern Eagles News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Statistics
Tuesday's match against St. Scholastica was the fifth straight home match for the Eagles, who are 4-2 in home matches this season. … Northwestern, which went 8-2 in UMAC play to finish second in 2011 was picked to finish second again in 2012 when the preseason coaches' poll was released. … Northwestern won its first UMAC Tournament last year, edging St. Scholastica by a point. … The Eagles return four starters from a year ago, including 2011 UMAC Player of the Year David Knight and 2010 UMAC Player of the Year Caleb Kauss. … The Eagles suffered their first UMAC loss of the season on Wednesday with their 6-3 setback at the hands of league-leading St. Scholastica. … Wednesday's loss to the Saints also snapped the Eagles' five-match winning streak. … Four of the nine matches vs. St. Scholastica when into tiebreakers — including a pair of 9-8 setbacks at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. … Krauss enters Friday's match vs. Saint Mary's with a team-best 12 singles wins. The junior is 12-4 overall and 5-1 in conference play. … Knight, meanwhile, owns 10 singles wins and is currently riding a six-match winning streak. … Keagan Blancke, who is third on the team with nine wins in 15 singles matches, also enters Friday's showdown with Saint Mary's on a six-match winning streak. … Kauss and Knight are 9-6 at No. 1 doubles this season, while Blancke and Jimmy Ekman have also won nine doubles matches, going 9-4 at No. 2. … Northwestern has used 11 different doubles combinations this season.

St. Olaf Oles News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Statistics
Saturday's match against Saint Mary's is St. Olaf's first home match — and one of just two home matches this season for the Oles. … The Oles had their six-match winning streak snapped on Wednesday, when they dropped a 7-2 decision to league-leading Carleton. … Wednesday's loss was the first in conference play for the Oles. … John Wight collected a straight-set, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) win at No. 1 singles, while Stephen Nolan added a 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 10-7 win at No. 3 singles to account for the Oles' two wins vs. Carleton. … With his win at No. 3 singles, Nolan improved to 12-1 on the season and extended his winning streak to 10 straight. … Nolan has played every singles position but No. 2 this season — going 1-0 at No. 1, 6-0 at No. 3, 1-1 at No. 4, 2-0 at No. 5 and 2-0 at No. 6. … Andy Catania is second on the team with nine wins, including a 6-1 mark at No. 4 singles. … As a team, the Oles are an impressive 55-23 in singles play this season. … Catania and Wright are 9-2 at No. 1 doubles this season. … The Oles have used 11 different doubles combination en route to their 27-12 doubles record.

Macalester Scots News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Statistics
Macalester enters its weekend matches against Hamline and Saint Mary's having won three of its last four and five of its last seven. … The Scots have been dominating in their eight wins this season — winning once 6-3, once 7-2, twice 8-1 and three times by 9-0 scores. … Max Soghikian enters the weekend with a team-best 13 singles wins — including a 11-4 mark in dual matches. … Max Edwards is second on the team with 10 singles wins and is riding a four-match winning streak. … Edwards is 8-2 in his last 10 singles matches. … Edwards and Soghikian have also teamed up for a team-best nine doubles wins, as the duo is 9-4 — going 1-0 at No. 1 and 8-4 at No. 3.