WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team kicks off its 2016 season this weekend at the Winona Tennis Center, hosting Bethany Lutheran in a 5 p.m. nonconference match on Friday, before opening MIAC play on Sunday with an 11 a.m. showdown with Carleton.
 
The Matchups:
Friday, January 29, 2016 | Winona Tennis Center | 5 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2015: 8-10 Overall) vs. Bethany Lutheran Vikings (2016: 0-3 Overall)
Sunday, January 31, 2016 | Winona Tennis Center | 11 a.m.
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2015: 3-7 MIAC | 8-10 Overall) vs. Carleton Knights (2015: 8-2 MIAC | 14-4 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Video Preview | Bethany Lutheran GameDay | Carleton GameDay
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's/Carleton: This weekend's matches are the season openers for the Cardinals and Knights.
• Bethany Lutheran: The Vikings played three matches in the Fall, losing to UW-Stout and Ripon by 6-0 counts, while dropping a 4-2 decision to Mount Marty | UW-Stout Recap * Ripon Recap * Mount Marty Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Bethany Lutheran—A Year Ago:
• February 6, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals bounced back from a season-opening 9-0 loss to defending MIAC champion and national qualifier Carleton with a stellar 9-0 victory over the Vikings at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
• February 1, 2015 * Winona, Minn.—Saint Mary's kicked off its 2015 season against defending Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Carleton, and the Knights—ranked No. 26 in the ITA preseason poll—appeared to be in perfect form, handing the Cardinals a 9-0 conference setback at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are now off until Feb. 12-13, when they entertain North Central (Minn.), Saint Benedict, and Martin Luther. Saint Mary's and North Central will square off on Friday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. The following day, the Cardinals will entertain Saint Benedict at noon and Martin Luther at 5:30 p.m. All three matches will be played at the Winona Tennis Center.
• Bethany Lutheran: the Vikings are back in action next Friday and Saturday in Owatonna, Minn., squaring off against Grand View on Friday, before playing nonconference matches against Bethel and Northwestern (Iowa) on Saturday.
• Carleton: After Sunday's nonconference matches against Saint Mary's and Winona State, the Knights head to Sartell, Minn., next Friday for a nonconference match against St. Cloud State.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2015 Final Statistics
• Saint Mary's is coming off an 8-10 season a year ago, including a 3-7 mark in conference matches. … The Cardinals' eight wins in 2015 came via three winning streaks—two, two-match runs and a season-high three-matcher.  … Saint Mary's owned three 9-0 sweeps last season, while also boasting a pair of 6-3 victories. … Haley Jorgensen (Fallon, Nev.) owned a team-high 13 singles wins. … Megan Vandenberg (De Pere, Wis.)—who was second to Jorgensen with 11 singles wins last season—captured the singles title at the 2015 Gustavus Invitational in September, going a perfect 4-0. … Jorgensen and Kirsten Hoffmann (Apple Valley, Minn.) shared a team-best nine doubles wins, one more than Vandenberg, Stacey Buss (Chicago, Ill.), and Ashley Syed (Lewisville, Texas). … The Cardinals, who went 6-4 at home this season, have collected 13 of their 18 wins over the past two seasons on their home court. … Saint Mary's finished 5-2 in nonconference play this season—and is 19-6 in non-MIAC matches over the past three seasons. … The Cardinals' 8-1 nonconference loss to Morningside (Iowa) on March 4 snapped their season-high three-match winning streak. … Saint Mary's surrendered just nine games in its 9-0 win over Bethany Lutheran on Feb. 5, before dropping only 10 games in sweeping Martin Luther 9-0 two days later. 
 
Scouting The Bethany Lutheran Vikings:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2015 Final Statistics
• The Vikings kick off the spring portion of their schedule with Friday's road match against Saint Mary's. Bethany Lutheran came up empty in its three matches during the fall portion of its schedule—losing to UW-Stout (6-0), Ripon (6-0), and Mount Marty (4-2). … The Vikings are coming off a 2-13 showing a year ago, with both their wins coming against North Central (Minn.)—and both were 5-4 decisions. … Six of the Vikings' 13 losses were 9-0 decisions—including their season-opening loss to Saint Mary's. … Rachel Rosemore posted a team-best five singles wins in 2015, one more than Alicia Kranz. … Eight of Bethany Lutheran's 14 singles victories last season came at Nos. 1 and 3 singles. The Vikings were 2-13 at No. 2, 1-4 at No. 4, 1-13 at No. 5, and 2-12 at No. 6. … The Vikings used 15 different doubles combinations last season en route to their 9-35 doubles record. … Kranz, Rosemore, and Morgan Schwarz led the team with four doubles wins each. … 
 
Scouting The Carleton Knights:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2015 Final Statistics
• The Knights head to Saint Mary's on Sunday coming off a 14-4 season a year ago, including an 8-2 record in conference play. … Carleton qualified for the MIAC Playoffs for the ninth consecutive year in 2015, falling to St. Thomas 5-1 in the semifinals. … The Knights did not have a senior on the roster a year ago, and return their entire lineup this season. … Six Carleton players earned a total of seven All-MIAC honors for the 2015 season. Caitlin Shea was named to both the All-MIAC singles and doubles teams, while Claire Spencer and Danielle Vasiliev earned the award for their singles performances, and Mikayla Becich, Alana Danieu, and Grace Davis were recognized for their doubles play. … Spencer finished 2015 on a 10-match win streak. She went a perfect 9-0 in conference matches and improved to 27-2 all-time in MIAC matches. … Spencer was one of four Knight players with 10 or more singles wins in 2015—Shea (12-2), Danieu (12-6), and Vasilliev (11-5) were the others. … Carleton lost just two matches at both No. 4 and No. 6 singles, going 15-2 and 16-2, respectively. … Carleton used 19 different doubles combinations en route to a 39-15 record in doubles play. … Grace Davis/Caitlin Eichten  (67-1) and Becich/Shea (7-4) were the Knights' top doubles teams in 2015.