ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team hits the road this weekend, traveling to the U of M Baseline Tennis Center for a 6 p.m. conference matchup against St. Catherine, before heading to Courts Plus in Fargo, N.D., on Sunday for an 8:30 a.m. showdown against Concordia.
 
The Matchups:
Friday, March 18, 2016 * U of M Baseline Tennis Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-2 MIAC, 6-3 Overall) at St. Catherine Wildcats (1-3 MIAC, 4-3 Overall), 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 20, 2016 * Courts Plus, Fargo, N.D.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-2 MIAC | 6-3 Overall) at Concordia Cobbers (0-7 MIAC, 0-11 Overall), Noon
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals have been off since March 4-5, when they collected a 5-4 nonconference win over Winona State, before falling to St. Thomas 9-0 at the Winona Tennis Center | WSU Recap * UST Recap
• St. Catherine: The Wildcats proved to be no match for high-powered St. Thomas, as the Tommies rolled to a 9-0 conference win over SCU last Sunday at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn. | Recap
• Concordia: The Cobbers dropped both of their matches last weekend at Courts Plus in Fargo, N.D., falling to St. Olaf 9-0 in an MIAC showdown last Saturday, before dropping a 9-0 nonconference decision to the University of Mary on Sunday | STO Recap * Mary Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Catherine—Their Last Meeting:
• February, 13, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: St. Catherine sandwiched a pair of 8-6 doubles wins around an 8-2 win at No. 2, as the Wildcats grabbed a 3-0 lead and never looked back in handing Saint Mary's a 9-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia—Their Last Meeting:
• March 14, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's needed a little while to get going, but once they did, the Cardinals were unstoppable in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against Concordia. The Cardinals battled to a sweep of the three doubles matches, before dominating the singles competition in breezing to a 9-0 conference win over the Cobbers at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: Following this weekend's matches against St. Catherine and Concordia, the Cardinals are off until April 2, when they host Bethel in an 11:30 a.m. conference matchup at the Winona Tennis Center. Saint Mary's then heads to Green Bay, Wis., the following day for nonconference matches against St. Norbert (10 a.m.) and UW-Stevens Point (1 p.m.)
• St. Catherine: The Wildcats kick off their four-match spring trip to Orlando, Fla., on Monday, squaring off against Carthage SCU will also face Hamilton, Elmhurst, and Hollins University during its stay in Florida.
• Concordia: Following this weekend's matches against North Dakota and Saint Mary's, the Cobbers are off until April 2, when they head to Northfield (Minn.) Tennis Center for a 2 p.m. conference match against Carleton.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• After playing six of their first nine matches on their home court, the Cardinals will now play six of their next seven contests on the road. … 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 five of its last seven matches. … Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.) has kicked off her collegiate career in impressive fashion, collecting No. 1 singles victories in seven of the team's first nine matches. … Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.) and Haley Jorgensen (Fallon, Nev.) are second to Sonday in dual-match singles wins with five 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 St. Catherine and Concordia 8-2 overall. … Saint Mary's owns a 30-24 singles record through nine matches this spring, while going 20-17 in doubles play. … Jorgensen, and Marissa Kinzer (Aitkin, Minn.) share the team lead in dual-match doubles wins with five each. … Jorgensen also won a pair of doubles matches at last fall's Gustavus Invitational to push her team-leading doubles win total to seven. … The Cardinals have used 11 different doubles combinations this season. … The Cardinals have collected 17 of their 24 wins over the past three seasons on their home court. … With their 5-4 win over Winona State on March 2, Saint Mary's improved to 24-7 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 St. Catherine Wildcats:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• The Wildcats head into Friday's match against Saint Mary's having dropped three straight—sandwiching 9-0 losses to Carleton and St. Thomas around a 7-2 setback vs. St. Olaf. … Friday's match vs. Saint Mary's is the third straight home match for the Wildcats, who are 3-2 on their home court this season. … SCU has played five of its first seven matches at home. … Angie Lorenzen heads into Friday's match vs. Saint Mary's owning a team-best five singles wins. … Leah Obert and Julia Sporer are second to Lorenzen with four singles wins, while Jessica Duda, Alicia Knoll, and Mikinzee Salo all have three. … Duda, Knoll and Lorenzen all share the team lead with four doubles wins, one more than Salo, Sporer, and Ruth Rike. … SCU is 23-19 in singles play this season, while going 11-10 in doubles.
 
Scouting The Concordia Cobbers:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• Concordia enters its weekend matches against North Dakota and Saint Mary's still searching for its first win of the season—the Cobbers have dropped 11 straight. … Concordia is searching for its first win since beating Minnesota-Crookston 7-2 on March 8, 2015—a span of 21 straight setbacks. … Ten of CC's 11 losses this season have been 9-0 sweeps—the lone exception a 7-2 setback to Hamline on Feb. 6. … Kendra Stoick has had a hand in both CC wins this season. She owns the Cobbers' lone singles win—a 6-4, 6-1 victory at No. 2 against Hamline—while teaming with Lisa Neumann for an 8-6 win against the Pipers at No. 2 doubles.