ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team kicks off a busy week on Saturday, traveling to Gustavus for an 11 a.m. conference showdown with the Gusties. SMU then heads to Owatonna, Minn., for a 4 p.m. nonconference match against Bethany Lutheran.

The Matchups:
Saturday, April 13, 2013 | Swanson Tennis Center * St. Peter, Minn. | 11 a.m.
SMU Cardinals (1-5 MIAC | 6-7 Overall) at Gustavus Gusties (1-1 MIAC | 5-6 Overall)
Saturday, April 13, 2013 | Owatonna Tennis Center * Owatonna, Minn. | 4 p.m.
SMU Cardinals (6-7 Overall) vs. Bethany Lutheran Vikings (3-11 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals have been off since last Saturday, when they dropped a 9-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference decision to St. Olaf at the Winona Tennis Center. … Gustavus dropped all three of its matches at the Midwest Invitational in Madison, Wis., last weekend. The Gusties opened with a 9-0 loss to the University of Chicago, before falling to UW-Whitewater (6-3) and Dennison (6-3). … Bethany Lutheran picked up a key UMAC victory on Monday, as the Vikings beat Martin Luther 6-3 in Mankato, Minn.

SMU vs. Gustavus — A Year Ago:
February 26, 2012: SMU gave nationally ranked Gustavus all it could handle, but the Gusties' depth just proved to be too much, as GAC handed the Cardinals a 7-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Winona Tennis Center.

SMU vs. Bethany Lutheran — Their Last Meeting:
March 29, 2008: After losing out on most of its matches during their spring trip to Texas due to inclement weather, SMU coach Jeff Halberg knew the importance of their nonconference match against Bethany Lutheran. A solid performance was a must. And the Cardinals delivered, cruising to a 9-0 nonconference win over the Vikings at the Winona Tennis Center.

Up Next:
The Cardinals play their final home matches of the season next Saturday at the Winona Tennis Center, as SMU hosts Concordia in a noon conference match, before squaring off against North Central in a nonconference showdown at 4 p.m. … Gustavus, which also plays Bethel on Saturday, is scheduled to travel to Moorhead, Minn., for a 4 p.m. MIAC match against Concordia on Sunday, before playing road matches at St. Olaf, St. Thomas and Macalester next weekend. … Bethany Lutheran, which also plays North Central on Saturday, is back in action on Wednesday, squaring off against cross-town rival MSU-Mankato in a 4 p.m. match on the Mavericks' home courts.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Last Saturday's loss to St. Olaf snapped the Cardinals' two-match winning streak. SMU heads into this weekend's matches having won three of its last six. … Deanne Webber (Reedsburg, Wis.) heads into the weekend boasting a team-best eight singles wins, including victories in two of her last three matches. … Katie Krull (Rochester, Minn.) is second on the team with six singles wins, while Lindsey Reinisch (Hastings, Minn.) is third with five. … The Cardinals boast four players who have recorded their first collegiate singles wins this season — Krull, Leanne Cleveland (Rochester, Minn.), Kirsten Hoffmann (Apple Valley, Minn.) and Lexi Felten (Waukesha, Wis.). … The Cardinals' 30 singles wins this season have come from eight different players. … Webber and Reinisch share the team lead with six doubles wins, one more than Hoffman and Grace Zachman (Elk River, Minn.). … The Cardinals have used nine different doubles combinations this season. … SMU's 8-1 loss to Berry on March 5 snapped the Cardinals' five-match nonconference winning streak — a streak that dated back to a 5-4 loss to Michigan Tech on April 14, 2012. … With their 7-2 win over Bemidji State on Feb. 2, the Cardinals have now won their season opener in two of the last three years — with both wins coming against Bemidji State, and both wins by 7-2 decisions.

Scouting the Gustavus Gusties:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
With their three losses at the Midwest Invitational last weekend, the Gusties saw their losing streak climb to five straight. … Sidney Dirks heads into Saturday's match against Saint Mary's with a team-best seven dual-match singles wins, while Laurel Krebsbach, Annie Mahoney and Mallory Shellum are all second with five each. … Mahoney is the team-leader in doubles wins with seven, while Dirks and Krebsbach each have six. … Dirks and Krebsbach have teamed to go 5-1 in doubles play this season — with all six matches at No. 2. … GAC's 6-3 loss to St. Catherine on March 9 marked the first time in program history the Gusties had lost to SCU — it was also just the second conference loss for Gustavus in the last 223 matches. … Gustavus had its streak of 20 consecutive regular-season conference titles snapped last year by Carleton. The Knights also ended GAC's five-year reign as MIAC playoff champions a year ago.

Scouting the Bethany Lutheran Vikings:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Bethany Lutheran's 6-3 win over Martin Luther was the Vikings' second straight win. BLU had snapped a three-match losing streak with a 5-4 win over UM-Morris last Saturday. … Five of Bethany Lutheran's 11 losses have been 9-0 setbacks, while the Vikings have also dropped four 8-1 decisions. … Ellen Tommerdahl is the team's leader in singles wins with five, while Rebecca Neumann is second with three. … Neumann and Tommerdahl have also teamed to post a team-high four doubles wins — all at No. 3. … Rebecca Kopacek and Brooke Osmundson are second on the team with three doubles wins. Neumann-Tommerdahl and Kopacek-Osmundson have accounted for seven of the team's eight doubles wins this season.