NEW BERLIN, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis team has a busy nonconference weekend ahead, as the Cardinals will play four matches in a three-day span. The Cardinals will face Carroll on Friday, before squaring off with Carthage and Concordia (Wis.) on Saturday, closing out the weekend at UW-Oshkosh on Sunday.
 
The Matchups:
Friday, February 5, 2016 | Moorland Park Tennis Center * New Berlin, Wis. | 5 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-1 Overall) at Carroll Pioneers (0-0 Overall)
Saturday, February 6, 2016 | Moorland Park Tennis Center * New Berlin, Wis. | 8 a.m.
Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-1 Overall) at Concordia (Wis.) Falcons (0-0 Overall)
Saturday, February 6, 2016 | Moorland Park Tennis Center * New Berlin, Wis. | 12:30 p.m.
Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-1 Overall) at Carthage Red Men (0-0 Overall)
Saturday, February 7, 2016 | YMCA Indoor Courts * Fond du Lac, Wis. | 9 a.m.
Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-1 Overall) at UW-Oshkosh Titans (0-0 Overall)
 
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Cardinals Last Action:
• The Cardinals went 1-1 in their season-opening weekend at the Winona Tennis Center, rolling to a 9-0 nonconference win over Bethany Lutheran last Friday, before falling to Carleton 8-1 in the teams' MIAC-opener a day later | BLC Recap * Carleton Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Carroll—Their Last Meeting:
• February 21, 2015 * Milwaukee, Wis.: The Cardinals picked up wins in two of the three doubles matches and added four, straight-set singles wins in handing Carroll a 6-3 setback at the Lake Country Racquet Club | Recap
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia (Wis.)—Their Last Meeting:
• February 7, 2014 * Milwaukee, Wis.: The Cardinals began their three-day "Wisconsin journey" in impressive fashion, cruising to an 8-1 nonconference win over Concordia (Wis.) at the Paley Tennis Center | Recap
Saint Mary's vs. UW-Oshkosh—Their Last Meeting:
• March 2, 2014 * Milwaukee, Wis.: Saint Mary's struggled to get out of the gate—losing all three doubles matches—and the Cardinals could not recover from the slow start in dropping a 7-2 nonconference setback to UW-Oshkosh at the Koehler Tennis Center | Recap
Saint Mary's vs. Carthage—Their Last Meeting:
• Saturday's match against Carthage will be the Cardinals' first vs. the Red Men in program history.
 
Cardinals Up Next:
•  The Cardinals are back on the court on Feb. 20, when they play three matches at the Winona Tennis Center. Saint Mary's will square off against Gustavus in an MIAC match at noon, before facing Martin Luther and North Central (Minn.) in nonconference matches at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. All three matches will take place at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• With their 9-0 win over Bethany Lutheran last Friday, the Cardinals improved to 4-1 in their last five season-openers. … Saint Mary's won four of the six singles matches vs. Bethany Lutheran in straight sets, while Collin Kaczorowski (Suamico, Wis.) and Garen Merritt (Sioux City, Iowa) needed three sets to win at No. 1 and No. 5, respectively. … Brett Giesen (Cato, Wis.) collected Saint Mary's lone singles win in their conference-opening loss to Carleton last Sunday. … With their win over Bethany Lutheran, Saint Mary's now owns a 22-4 record against nonconference opponents over the past three seasons, and is 35-7 in nonconference action over the past four years. … Saint Mary's returns a pair of 2015 all-conference performers in Tim Wolford (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Collin Kaczorowski (Suamico, Wis.). Wolford was All-MIAC in both singles and doubles, while Kaczorowski was all-conference in doubles. … The Cardinals put together an 11-match winning streak a year ago—the longest in coach Jeff Halberg's 15 years at the helm. … Brett Giesen (Cato, Wis.) put together a team-leading 13-match winning streak last season, while Brenden Amiotte (Rapid City, S.D.) and Alex Holm (Red Wing, Minn.) owned 11- and nine-match singles winning streaks last season. … Nine of the Cardinals' 14 wins last season came on the road, where Saint Mary's was 9-3. The Cardinals finished 5-4 on their home court a year ago.
 
Scouting The Carroll Pioneers:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2015 Final Statistics
• The Pioneers, coming off an 11-11 season a year ago, kick off their 2016 campaign against Saint Mary's on Friday. … Carroll will be without the services of graduated senior, a two-time MWC No. 1 singles champion, who did not drop a set in claiming his second consecutive MWC singles title. … Michael closed out his senior year with a team-best 18 singles wins, while Peter Jaeger finished the year second on the team with 15 singles wins—including a perfect 9-0 record in conference play. … Carroll finished 2015 with a 19-2 record at No. 1 singles and a 15-6 mark at No. 2, but the Pioneers were just 30-56 at Nos. 3-4-5-6 combined. … The Pioneers used 11 different doubles combinations last season, with Jaeger and Michael teaming up for a team-best 13 doubles wins. … Six of Carroll's 11 wins last season came on the road.
 
Scouting The Concordia (Wis.) Falcons:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• The Falcons, who kick off their season with three matches this weekend, are coming off a 9-12 showing a year ago—including a 6-2 record in Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference play. … Concordia reached the semifinals of the NACC tournament a year ago, falling to MSOE 5-2. … The Falcon's loss to MSOE in the NACC semifinals marked the first time in tournament history Concordia did not reach the title match. CUW won the conference tournament in 2011, 2012, and 2013, while finishing second in 2014. … Steven Fritz recorded a team-best nine singles wins a year ago—one more win than both Benjamin Nommenson and Ceejay Schaffner. … Concordia finished 11-8 at No. 3 singles—it was the only singles position in which the Falcons had a winning record. … Concordia used 18 different doubles combinations last season, with Trevor Budewitz and Nick Gold teaming for a team-best eight wins.
 
Scouting The Carthage Red Men:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• The Red Men head into their season-opening matches coming off a 20-7 season a year ago. … Winners of the 2015 CCIW Tournament title, Carthage fell to fifth-seeded Washington (Mo.) University in the second round of the NCAA national championships. … Carthage returns five players who posted 20 or more singles wins last season, led by Chris Conley with 24. Alex Boomgarden chipped in 22, followed by Ryan Jump (21), Jordan Verbauwhede (21) and Alex Feruzzi. … As a team, Carthage owned a 142-55 singles record, while going 68-35 in doubles action. … Boomgarden and Conley teamed for a 21-6 record in doubles play, while Verbauwhede and Pawel Jaworski were close behind at 20-8. … Carthage used 15 different doubles combinations last season. … Carthage played just three of its 27 matches at home last season—winning all three. The Red Men went 17-7 away from home, including 14-4 in neutral-court matches.
 
Scouting The UW-Oshkosh Titans:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• The Titans enter this weekend's season-openers on the heels of a 7-15 campaign in 2015. … UW-Oshkosh closed out the year with a 9-0 win over Concordia (Wis.)—a win that snapped the Titans' season-high four-match losing streak. … Mike Gillespie was the team-leader in singles wins a year ago with eight, while David La Grange, David Leffler, and Aidan Sauberlich all finished second with five. … Gillespie and Sauberlich shared the team lead in doubles wins (7) with Vincent Gorski-Adam Martin and La Grange-Logan Zastrow. … As a team, UW-Oshkosh finished 37-89 in singles play last season, while going 25-38 in doubles action. … The Titans played just three home matches last season—winning all three. UW-Oshkosh went 4-15 on the road, including 2-8 in neutral-court matches.