GameDay Preview

ST. PETER, Minn. — It was a busy opening day of the Midwest Open for Saint Mary's University's Andrew Rangitsch.

Rangitsch kicked off the day with a hard-fought, three-set 6-7, 6-0, 10-4 win over UW-La Crosse's Mike Nenow — and that was just a sign of things to come for the Cardinal senior, who would spend more than seven hours on the tennis court en route to a single-day school-record five wins.

Rangitsch won his second singles match 3-6, 6-4, 10-6, and followed that up with his third three-setter of the day — a match that included a 12-10 third-set marathon — and added a pair of doubles wins, teaming with Warren Lawrenz for an 8-6 win in their opener and an 8-5 victory in the second round.

Bobby Steingraeber also had a busy day on Friday, opening singles play in the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional with a three-set, 6-1, 6-7 (1-7), 10-8 win over Kollin Dean of St. Scholastica. Steingraeber's singles run came to a halt in the second round, however, falling to Gustavus' Joey McGibbon 6-0, 6-0.

But that was just the beginning, as he teamed with Michael Lunka for a pair of doubles wins. The Cardinal pair, the tournament's No. 3 seed, opened with 8-2 win against Wartburg, and comopleted their evening with an 8-5 win over a team from Carleton late Friday evening.

In other singles matches at the Midwest Open, Garen Merritt opened with three-set victory kicking off his collegiate career with a 6-7 (4), 6-0, 10-4 victory over UW-La Crosse's Mike Nenow. Merritt dropped his second-round match, however, falling to Saint John's Alex Weigmann 6-0, 6-0. Gavin Smith, Collin Kaczorowski, Blake Olmscheid and Lawrenz all lost their opening-round Midwest Open matches in straight sets, while the doubles teams of Smith-Kaczorowski and Merritt-Olmscheid were both beaten in opening-round play.