WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team has a busy weekend in store, as the Cardinals entertain North Central (Minn.) on Friday, before squaring off against both Saint Benedict and Martin Luther on Saturday. All three matches will be held at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
The Matchups:
Friday, February 12, 2016 | Winona Tennis Center | 6 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-1 Overall) vs. North Central Rams (0-3 Overall)
Saturday, February 13, 2016 | Winona Tennis Center | Noon * 5:30 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-1 MIAC | 1-1 Overall) vs. Saint Benedict Blazers (0-0 MIAC | 1-3 Overall)
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-1 Overall) vs. Martin Luther Knights (0-1 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals have been off since Jan. 31, when they dropped an 8-1 decision in their MIAC opener against Carleton. Saint Mary's had opened the 2016 season two days earlier with a 9-0 win over Bethany Lutheran | BLC Recap * Carleton Recap
• North Central: The Rams are coming off a pair of nonconference losses last weekend, falling to St. Catherine 9-0 in St. Paul, Minn., last Friday, before suffering a 9-0 setback against St. Scholastica a day later in Bloomington, Minn. | SCU Recap * CSS Recap
• Saint Benedict: Victoria Beach and Rachel Raden won their singles matches and teamed up to win at No. 2 doubles in the Blazers' 6-3 loss to Northwestern (Minn.) last Saturday at Public Indoor Tennis in Spring Lake Park, Minn. | Recap
• Martin Luther: The Knights opened the 2016 season  on the short end of an 8-1 nonconference decision against Macalester last Saturday in St. Paul, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. North Central—Their Last Meeting:
• Friday's showdown will be the first in program history between the Cardinals and the Rams
Saint Mary's vs. Saint Benedict­—Their Last Meeting:
• April 12, 2015 * St. Joseph, Minn.: Saint Mary's gave Saint Benedict all it could handle, but the Blazers proved to be too strong. Saint Benedict used a 3-0 start in doubles and held off the Cardinals during the six singles matches in handing Saint Mary's a 7-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback | Recap
Saint Mary's vs. Martin Luther—Their Last Meeting:
• February 8, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's closed out its busy weekend in the exact same way they began it—with a convincing nonconference victory.  Very convincing. The Cardinals dropped just 10 games in sweeping the six singles matches and cruised to a 9-0 victory over Martin Luther at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap 
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: The Cardinals head south on Feb. 27-28, taking on Webber International, Otterbein, and Adrian during their spring break trip to Florida.
• North Central: The Rams are right back on the court on Saturday, squaring off against both Northwestern (Minn.) and Macalester in Lakeville, Minn.
• Saint Benedict: Following their matches against Saint Mary's and Martin Luther on Saturday, CSB is right back on the court on Sunday, hosting Concordia in a 9 a.m. MIAC match in Sartell, Minn.
• Martin Luther: x
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• This weekend's matches against North Central (Minn.), Saint Benedict, and Martin Luther are part of a season-opening five-match homestand. In fact, the Cardinals play seven of their first 10 matches on their home court—the lone exceptions, three neutral-site spring trip matches. … With their season-opening 9-0 win over Bethany Lutheran, the Cardinals improved to 8-0 all-time against the Vikings. … Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.) kicked off her collegiate career in impressive fashion, collecting No. 1 singles victories against Bethany Lutheran and Carleton. … Haley Jorgensen (Fallon, Nev.), Megan Vandenberg (De Pere, Wis.), Kirsten Hoffmann (Apple Valley, Minn.), Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.), and Sheyenne Bauer (Cannon Falls, Minn.) all collected singles wins vs. Bethany Lutheran. … Hoffmann and Sonday, who teamed to go 2-2 at the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional last fall, teamed to go 1-1 in the Cardinals' first two matches this season. Jorgensen-Ashley Syed (Lewisville, Texas) and Marissa Kinzer (Aitkin, Minn.)-Summer Lardy (Richmond, Minn.) also collected doubles wins vs. Bethany Lutheran. … Vandenberg, coming off an 11-win singles season a year ago, captured the singles title at the 2015 Gustavus Invitational in September, going a perfect 4-0. … Saint Mary's is coming off an 8-10 season a year ago, including a 3-7 mark in conference matches. … With their 1-1 showing in their season-opening weekend, the Cardinals have now collected 14 of their 19 wins over the past three seasons on their home court. … With their 9-0 win over Bethany Lutheran, Saint Mary's improved to 20-6 in nonconference play over the past four seasons. … The Cardinals dropped just 10 games in their 9-0 season-opening sweep of Bethany Lutheran. Last season, Saint Mary's surrendered just nine games in a similar 9-0 sweep of the Vikings.
 
Scouting The North Central Rams:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• Friday's match against Saint Mary's is the second of three matches against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Rams fell to St. Catherine last Friday, and will face Macalester on Saturday. … North Central's match vs. Saint Mary's Friday is the first of two matches vs. teams named Saint Mary's—the Rams face St. Mary's (Neb.) on Saturday, March 19. … The Rams are still looking for their first set win of the season—North Central has been blanked 9-0 in its first three matches this season. … The Rams are coming off a 3-14 season a year ago. … With their losses to Northwestern and St. Catherine, the Rams saw their road losing streak climb to 24 straight over the past five seasons.
 
Scouting The Saint Benedict Blazers:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• Saturday's matches against Saint Mary's and Martin Luther are the third and fourth straight road matches for the Blazers, who play five of their first six matches away from home. … Victoria Beach and Rachel Raden accounted for all three of CSB's wins in its nonconference loss to Northwestern (Minn.) last Saturday. The duo picked up wins at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, and teamed for an 8-4 victory at No. 2 doubles. … Raden and Beach share the team lead in singles wins with two each. The Blazers' other five singles wins have come from five different players—Megan Hintz, Taylor Kraemer, and Ellen Stensrud. … Raden has hand in three of the team's five doubles wins, going 2-1 teamed with Kraemer, while adding last Saturday's 8-4 victory with Beach as her partner.
 
Scouting The Martin Luther Knights:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• Saturday's matches against Saint Mary's and Saint Benedict are part of a season-opening four-match road trip for the Knights, who finished 2-7 on the road a year ago. … Saturday's matches against Saint Mary's and Saint Benedict are the second and third of three straight matches against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. … Acacia Foss accounted for the Knights' lone win in their season-opening loss to Macalester, collecting a 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles. … Charis Goelzer recorded a team-high four singles wins a year ago, while Rachel Riediger was second with three. … Mateja Epple had a hand in four of the Knights' eight doubles wins in 2015.