WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team kicks off conference play this weekend, hosting Carleton at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, then traveling to Gustavus for a 4 p.m. match on Saturday in St. Peter, Minn.

The Matchups:
Friday, February 15, 2013 | Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn. | 6:30 p.m.
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0 MIAC | 3-0 Overall) vs. Carleton Knights (0-0 MIAC | 2-1 Overall)

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Saturday, February 16, 2013 | Swanson Tennis Center * St. Peter, Minn. | 4 p.m.
Saint Mary's Cardinals at Gustavus Gusties (1-3 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Video Preview | Carleton GameDay Program

Last Action:
The Cardinals kicked off their season in impressive fashion last weekend, posting back-to-back 9-0 wins over Wisconsin Lutheran and Concordia (Wis.) last Friday, before adding a 5-4 nonconference win over Carroll on Saturday. … Carleton sandwiched nonconference victories over UW-Oshkosh (6-3) and St. Norbert (8-1) around a 6-3 loss to NCAA Division II Michigan Tech in its first three matches last weekend. … Gustavus, meanwhile, went 1-3 in its trip to San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 6-8. GAC lost to University of Incarnate Word (8-1), Trinity (7-2) and UT-Tyler (7-2), while blanking Texas Lutheran (9-0).

SMU vs. Carleton — Their Last Meeting:
April 14, 2012: It had been two weeks since Saint Mary's had competed, and Carleton made the Cardinals pay for their rustiness, as the regionally ranked Knights handed SMU a 7-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Winona Tennis Center.

SMU vs. Gustavus — Their Last Meeting:
March 23, 2012: SMU got a first-hand look at just how good Gustavus was. The Gusties entered the Winona Tennis Center boasting a perfect 5-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record — not to mention the No. 4 ranking in the latest ITA Central Region poll and a No. 24 ranking in all of Division III — and exited with a 9-0 victory over the Cardinals.

Up Next:
The Cardinals step out of conference play next weekend, hosting Northwestern in an 11 a.m. nonconference match on Saturday, before entertaining Loras at 9 a.m. on Sunday. Both matches will take place at the Winona Tennis Center. … Carleton remains in Winona, Minn., for a pair of nonconference matches on Saturday, as the Knights square off against Luther (Noon) and UW-La Crosse (3 p.m.). … After their three matches on Saturday, the Gusties will take part in the ITA National Indoor Championships next weekend at the Swanson Tennis Center in St. Peter, Minn.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
With their wins over Wisconsin Lutheran, Concordia (Wis.) and Carroll, the Cardinals have opened the season 3-0 for the first time under 15-year head coach Jeff Halberg. … The Cardinals did not drop a set in beating both Wisconsin Lutheran and Concordia (Wis.) by identical 9-0 scores. … San Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.), Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) and Collin Kaczorowski (Suamico, Wis.) each won all three of their singles matches last weekend, while Blake Olmscheid was 2-0 in his two singles matches. … For Kaczorowski and Olmscheid, their singles wins vs. Wisconsin Lutheran last Friday were the first of their collegiate careers. …  SMU dropped just one of its nine doubles matches last weekend — Kaczorowski-Gavin Smith (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Steingraeber-Michael Lunka (Eagan, Minn.) were both a perfect 2-0. … Coach Halberg used seven different doubles combinations in the team's three matches last weekend. … Andrew Rangitsch (Oakdale, Minn.) — who went 2-1 in his three singles matches last weekend — set a single-day school record with five wins during the opening day of the Gustavus Midwest Open last fall, reaching the quarterfinals, where he dropped a two-and-a-half hour, three-set, 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 decision to Saint John's Alex Weigmann. … Lunka and Steingraeber — who earned their second All-MIAC doubles honor in 2012 — improved to 21-2 in their last 23 doubles matches.

Scouting the Carleton Knights:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Carleton enters Friday's conference-opener against Saint Mary's having sandwiched wins over UW-Oshkosh (6-3) and St. Norbert (8-1) around a 6-3 loss against NCAA Division II Michigan Tech. … Alexander Chin leads the way for the Knights, having gone a perfect 3-0 in singles play in Carleton's first three matches. Chin is 2-0 at No. 3 singles and 1-0 at No. 4. … Nelson Wolf and Mauricio Gonzalez are 2-0 in singles action this season, while Austin Jiang is 2-1. … Chin and Jiang are the only Knights who have been in the singles lineup in all three matches this season. … Chin and Jiang have also teamed to go 2-0 in doubles play, with both wins coming at No. 2. … Carleton is 12-6 in singles matches this season, but just 5-4 in its nine doubles matches. … Friday's match is the fourth straight road match for Carleton. … Carleton, which finished second in the MIAC standings a year ago — finishing 8-1 — was picked to finish fourth in this season's MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Scouting the Gustavus Gusties:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Gustavus enters Saturday's conference-opening match against Saint Mary's as the MIAC's reigning champion — for the last 24 consecutive years. And the Gusties were picked No. 1 in the MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll again this season. … Part of the reason Gustavus enters as a heavy favorite for its 25th-straight MIAC title is the returning talent, led by two of the league's top players — Amrik Donkena and Mya Smith-Dennis.  Donkena is a three-time All-MIAC performer and teamed with Smith-Dennis to earn All-American doubles honors. … GAC's 9-0 win over Texas Lutheran snapped the Gusties' season-opening three-match losing streak. … GAC enters Saturday's match vs. Saint Mary's boasting eight players with one singles win through the Gusties' first four matches. … Donkena and Smith-Dennis own a 2-1 record at No. 1 doubles, accounting for two of the team's six doubles wins. … As a team, Gustavus is 8-16 in singles matches and 6-6 in its 12 doubles matches.