WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team closes out the regular season with a pair of home matches at the Winona Tennis Center this weekend, as the Cardinals host Saint John's in a 5:30 p.m. MIAC match on Friday, before entertaining Macalester at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The Matchups:
Friday, April 25, 2014 | Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn. | 5:30 p.m.
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-5 MIAC | 13-7 Overall) vs. Saint John's Johnnies (2-5 MIAC, 6-10 Overall)
Saturday, April 26, 2014 | Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn. | 2:30 p.m.
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-5 MIAC, 13-7 Overall) vs. Macalester Scots (3-4 MIAC, 7-7 Overall

GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Action:
The Cardinals dropped a pair of conference matches on April 12-13, falling to St. Olaf 9-0 on Saturday in Northfield, Minn., before suffering an 8-1 setback against league-leading Gustavus a day later at the Winona Tennis Center. … The Johnnies are coming off an 8-1 win over Hamline on Wednesday in St. Paul, Minn. … Macalester came up empty in its conference match against St. Olaf on Tuesday, falling to the Oles 9-0 in Northfield, Minn.

SMU vs. Saint John's — The Last Meeting:
April 14, 2013: SMU coach Jeff Halberg knew the key to the Cardinals' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against Saint John's would be getting off to a quick start. Saint John's, however, had other ideas, as the Johnnies won all three doubles matches and held off a furious Cardinal comeback in handing SMU a 6-3 conference setback at Fitness Evolution in Sartell, Minn.

SMU vs. Macalester — Their Last Meeting:
April 27, 2013: The scenario was simple. If SMU beat Macalester, the Cardinals would be a member of the six-team MIAC Tournament. A loss, and the Cardinals would be left on the outside looking in. Punch that ticket — the Cardinals are going to the MIAC's dance. SMU jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the doubles portion of the match, then followed that up with four singles wins — including a three-set victory at No. 1 — to secure the 6-3 conference win in St. Paul, Minn.

Up Next:
This weekend's matches are the regular-season finale for Saint Mary's and Saint John's, while Macalester closes out its regular-season schedule with a 10:30 a.m. home match against Carleton on Sunday.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
With their win over Northwestern on April 9, SMU improved to 24-4 in nonconference play over the past two seasons and moved to 38-11 vs. non-MIAC foes over the past four years. … The Cardinals — who snapped a two-match losing streak with its 8-1 win over Northwestern on April 9 — head into the weekend having won eight of its last 13 matches. … SMU's losses to St. Olaf and Gustavus on April 12-13 marked just the second time this season the Cardinals have dropped back-to-back matches. … The Cardinals are 14-6 on their home court over the past two seasons. … Gavin Smith (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Nick Kasel (Minneaplis, Minn.) accounted for SMU's win against league-leading Gustavus on April 13, winning 8-6 at No. 3 doubles. … Smith enters this weekend's matches against Saint John's and Macalester owning a team-leading 14 singles wins. … Smith's career-high 14 singles wins are 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 a career-best 13 doubles wins, two more than Kaczorowski, and three better than Tim Wolford (Maple Grove, Minn.). … As a team, the Cardinals are 33-27 in doubles matches, while going 60-60 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 Saint John's Johnnies:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
Saturday's match against Saint Mary's is the second straight road contest for the Johnnies, who are in the midst of closing out the regular season with three of their last four matches on the road. … SJU's 8-1 win over Hamline snapped its two-match losing streak. The Johnnies head to Saint Mary's having won just twice in their last nine matches. … Jordan Otto owns a team-leading nine singles wins, two more than Jack Hansen, Joe Laue, Andrew Nagel and Alex Wiegmann. … Hansen and Laue have played all 16 of the Johnnies' matches this season at No. 1 or No. 2 singles — Hansen is 6-9 at No. 1 and 1-0 at No. 2, while Laue is 0-1 at No. 1 and 7-8 at No. 2. … Otto also leads the team in doubles wins with eight, while Laue is one win back with seven. … SJU has used 10 different doubles combinations this season. … The Johnnies are 46-50 as a team in singles play and own a 21-27 record in doubles competition.

Scouting the Macalester Scots:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Scots head into Saturday's match against Saint Mary's having won three of its last five and five of their last eight. … Saturday's match marks the second time this season Macalester has squared off against Saint Mary's, having beaten Saint Mary's (Md.) 5-4 in a nonconference match in Hilton Head, S.C., on March 18. … Alasdair McClintic heads into Saturday's match at Saint Mary's with a team-leading 10 singles wins, posting a 10-2 mark at No. 2. … Sam Naden and Max Soghikian are second to McClintic with seven singles wins each. … McClintic owns all 10 Macalester wins at No. 2 singles, while Soghikian owns all seven of the Scots' victories at No. 3. … Soghikian and Wilson Merrell have teamed for a team-high eight doubles wins, going 8-2 at No. 2. … McClintic and Brian Utz are second on the team with seven doubles wins, all at No. 1. … Macalester owns a 39-39 record as a team in singles play, while going 22-17 in doubles matches this season.