Ursinus Summary | King's Summary | GameDay Preview

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team had its five-match nonconference winning streak come to a screeching halt on Monday, as Ursinus handed the Cardinals a 6-3 setback.

The Cardinals showed just how resilient they were, however, bouncing back with a convincing 7-2 win over King's College Monday evening.

Against Ursinus, the Bears jumped out to a 2-1 win after the doubles competition — thanks to a come-from-behind 9-8 win at No. 2, where Sam Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Gavin Smith (White Bear Lake, Minn.) were serving for the match at 8-7, only to be broken and fall in a 7-4 tiebreaker.

Puff and Collin Kaczorowski (Suamico, Wis.) picked up SMU's other two wins, as Puff won 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 singles, while Kaczorowski added a 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 three-set marathon at No. 6.

“We had our chances (against Ursinus),” said SMU coach Jeff Halberg. “That loss at No. 2 doubles really seemed to swing the momentum in their favor — and in singles, they were just too deep for us.”

Unlike their early match on Monday, the Cardinals took control after the three doubles matches, as Puff and Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) teamed for an 8-3 win at No. 1 and Smith and Kaczorowski were convincing 8-0 winners at No. 2 to give SMU a 2-1 advantage.

And SMU added wins in five of the six singles matches — including three-setters by Smith at No. 4 and Blake Olmscheid (Farmington, Minn.) at No. 6 — to ice the victory. Steingraeber, Andrew Rangitsch (Oakdale, Minn.) and Warren Lawrenz (Rochester, Minn.) were all straight-set singles winners for the Cardinals.

“The guys put together a solid performance,” said Halberg. “A lot of players stepped up and played very well — it was good to see us bounce back from the loss to Ursinus with a great effort against King's.”

SMU (6-3 overall) is back in action on Tuesday, squaring off against Berry College.