WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team—fresh off a three-match spring trip to Orlando, Fla.—is back in action this weekend, hosting Winona State on Friday and St. Thomas on Saturday at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
The Matchups:
Friday, March 4, 2016 * Winona Tennis Center
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-2 Overall) vs. Winona State Warriors (2-5 Overall), 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 5, 2016 * Winona Tennis Center
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-1 MIAC | 5-2 Overall) vs. St. Thomas Tommies (1-0 MIAC | 3-0 Overall), Noon
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are coming off a 2-1 showing in its three-match trip to Orlando, Fla., sandwiching a 7-2 win over Webber and an 8-1 victory vs. Adrian, around an 8-1 loss to Otterbein | Webber Recap | Otterbein Recap | Adrian Recap
• Winona State: The Warriors dropped a pair of NSIC matches last weekend, falling to UM-Duluth 7-2 and St. Cloud State 6-3 | UMD Recap * SCSU Recap
• St. Thomas: The Tommies had little trouble running their winning streak to three straight, sweeping Concordia 9-0 in a conference match at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Winona State—Their Last Meeting:
• February 3, 2012 * Winona Tennis Center: Winona State swept through the doubles competition, dropping just eight games in grabbing a 3-0 lead. The Warriors then added wins in all six singles matches for the 9-0 win—but it was anything but easy. Bailey Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and Deanne Webber (Reedsburg, Wis.) each forced a third set, with Edwards falling 4-6, 6-3, 11-9 at No. 2, while Webber also won the opening set, only to fall 2-6, 6-2, 10-7 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas—Their Last Meeting:
• March 21, 2015 * Minneapolis, Minn.: Despite a gallant effort, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team could not match the firepower of host St. Thomas, as the unbeaten Tommies dealt the Cardinals a 9-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback Saturday evening at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are off until March 18, when they head to the U of M Baseline Tennis Center for an MIAC match against St. Catherine.
• Winona State: The Warriors do not play again until March 18, when they entertain Upper Iowa in an NSIC match at the Winona Tennis Center.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies are right back on the court on Sunday, returning to the U of M Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 7:30 p.m. conference match against Saint Benedict.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• The Cardinals' three matches in Orlando, Fla., were their first road contests of the season—Saint Mary's plays seven of their first 10 matches at the Winona Tennis Center. … The Cardinals' 8-1 loss to Otterbein on Feb. 28 snapped their season-high three-match winning streak. … Saint Mary's heads into this weekend's matches having won four of its last five. … Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.) has kicked off her collegiate career in impressive fashion, collecting No. 1 singles victories in all seven of the Cardinals' matches. … Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.) and Haley Jorgensen (Fallon, Nev.) are second to Sonday in dual-match singles wins with four each. … Megan Vandenberg (De Pere, Wis.), 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—and heads this weekend's matches against Winona State and St. Thomas 7-1 overall. … Saint Mary's owns a 27-15 singles record through seven matches this spring, while going 13-8 in doubles play. … Sonday, Jorgensen, and Marissa Kinzer (Aitkin, Minn.) share the team lead in doubles wins with four each. … The Cardinals have used 11 different doubles combinations this season. … The Cardinals have collected 16 of their 23 wins over the past three seasons on their home court. … With their 2-1 showing in Orlando, Fla., Saint Mary's improved to 23-7 in nonconference play over the past four seasons. … Fueled by their season-opening 9-0 win over Bethany Lutheran, the Cardinals improved to 8-0 all-time against the Vikings. … 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 Winona State Warriors:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• Winona State heads into Friday's match against Saint Mary's having lost three straight. … Winona State has had losing streaks of two and three straight, while the Warriors' two wins came in back-to-back matches against UM-Crookston (8-1) and Southwest Minnesota State (6-3). … Rachel Gantz and Justine Deane have combined for nine of the team's 15 singles wins—Gantz owns a team-leading five, one more than Deane. … Gantz and Deane both head into Friday's match against Saint Mary's riding two-match winning streaks. … Deane and Gantz have also teamed for a team-best 4-3 doubles record. … Winona State is 15-27 in singles play, while going 7-14 in its seven doubles matches. … The Warriors' two wins this season have both come on neutral-site courts—WSU is 0-3 at home, and Friday's match against Saint Mary's will be the first official road match of the season.
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• The Tommies head into Saturday's match against Saint Mary's riding a season-opening three-match winning streak. … St. Thomas has dominated its first three opponents, sweeping UW-River Falls and Concordia 9-0, and topping St. Cloud State 8-1. … Caitlin Bakke, Shelby Henderson, Bridget Noack, and Jeanna Zimmerman are all a perfect 3-0 in singles play this season. … The Tommies' lone singles loss came at No. 5—UST is 3-0 at Nos. 1-2-3-4 and 6. … Henderson and Noack have teamed for a 3-0 record at No. 1 doubles, with Bakke and Zimmerman going 3-0 at No. 2. … Two of the Tommies' three wins have come on the road.