MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team hits the road on Thursday, traveling to the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center for a 4:30 p.m. conference match against Hamline

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-1 MIAC | 10-3 Overall) at Hamline Pipers (1-1 MIAC | 3-4 Overall)

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Last Action:
SMU is coming off a busy weekend that saw the Cardinals split nonconference matches against Morningside (W, 6-3) and Luther (L, 9-0) on Saturday, and beat Concordia 8-1 in conference play on Sunday. … Hamline has been off since March 7, when the Pipers dropped a 9-0 decision against UW-La Crosse in Rochester, Minn.

SMU vs. Hamline — Their Last Meeting:
March 15, 2013: There would be no "jet-lag" for SMU, as the Cardinals, playing in their first matches since their spring trip to Orlando, Fla., jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the doubles portion of their match with the Pipers and outlasted HU in singles play — in which five of the six matches went three sets — en route to a 6-3 victory at the Winona Tennis Center

Up Next:
SMU is off until March 30, when the Cardinals lock horns with Loras in a 2 p.m. nonconference match in Dubuque, Iowa. … Hamline kicks off its five-match spring trip to Orlando, Fla., on Sunday, squaring off against Carthage.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Cardinals head into Thursday's match against Hamline owning a 5-2 record in their last seven matches. … SMU has not lost back-to-back matches all season and has put together winning streaks of five and three straight. … With their win over Morningside and loss to Luther, the Cardinals improved to 22-4 in nonconference play over the past two seasons and 36-11 vs. non-MIAC foes over the past four years. … Thanks to Sunday's 8-1 win over Concordia, SMU pushed its record to 13-3 on its home court over the past two seasons. … Gavin Smith (White Bear Lake, Minn.) picked up singles wins in two of his three matches last weekend, pushing his team-leading win total to 11, one more than Collin Kaczorowski (Suamico, Wis.). … Kaczorowski set a single-season school record with 20 singles victories a year. … Smith also leads the team with nine doubles wins, again one more than Kaczorowski, and two better than Tim Wolford (Maple Grove, Minn.), Blake Olmscheid (Farmington, Minn.) and Warren Lawrenz (Rochester, Minn.). … As a team, the Cardinals are 24-15 in doubles matches, while going 45-33 in singles play. … SMU's 9-0 loss to Carleton on Feb. 14 snapped the Cardinals' season-opening five-match winning streak — the longest season-opening winning streak in coach Jeff Halberg's 16 years as SMU's head coach. … With their 9-0 win over Martin Luther on Feb. 1, the Cardinals have now won their last four season openers.

Scouting the Hamline Pipers:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
Hamline's 9-0 loss to UW-La Crosse on March 7 snapped the Pipers' two-match winning streak. … Three of HU's four losses have been 9-0 sweeps. On the flip side, two of the Pipers' three wins have been 9-0 decisions. … Hamline's showdown with Saint Mary's Thursday is just the third home match of the season for the Pipers. … Derek Lutz and Dylan Sperry enter Thursday's match against Saint Mary's owning a team-leading four singles wins — Sperry is 4-2 at No. 1 singles and Lutz is 4-2 at No. 2. … Sperry and Sam Peterson have teamed to go 3-3 at No. 1 doubles, while Lutz and Tyler Antill are 3-3 at No. 2. … As a team, the Pipers have used five different doubles combinations. … The Pipers are 18-18 in singles play and 8-10 in doubles competition.