WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis team—coming off a three-match spring trip to Orlando, Fla., is back in action this weekend, hosting UW-La Crosse 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 (7-4 Overall) vs. UW-La Crosse Eagles (1-6 Overall), 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 5, 2016 * Winona Tennis Center
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-2 MIAC | 7-4 Overall) vs. St. Thomas Tommies (2-1 MIAC | 2-2 Overall), Noon
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals closed out their three-match trip to Orlando, Fla., with back-to-back wins over Ohio Northern (7-2) and Adrian (5-4). Saint Mary's opened their spring trip with a 6-3 setback vs. Webber | Webber Recap * ONU Recap * Adrian Recap
• UW-La Crosse: The Eagles suffered their sixth loss of the season last Saturday, falling to Grinnell 7-2 at Rochester Tennis Connection in Rochester, Minn. | Recap
• St. Thomas: The Tommies picked up a pair of wins last weekend at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn., dropping Saint John's 6-3 and Concordia 8-1 | SJU Recap * Concordia Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-La Crosse—Their Last Meeting:
• March 25, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: UW-La Crosse jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the three doubles matches and added five straight-set singles wins in beating Saint Mary's 7-2 for its 12^th straight win | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas—Their Last Meeting:
• March 21, 2015 * St. Paul, Minn.: It took three sets, but Brett Giesen (Cato, Wis.) picked up his 12th straight singles win and Tim Wolford (Maple Grove, Minn.) recorded his eighth straight singles victory Saturday evening against St. Thomas.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, those two three-set wins were the only winning streaks that would remain in tact, as the Tommies handed the Cardinals a 7-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center.
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in action next weekend with four home matches, hosting Saint John's in a 7 p.m. match on Friday, before entertaining Luther (2 p.m.) and North Central (6 p.m.) on Saturday, and Milwaukee School of Engineering (noon) on Sunday.
• UW-La Crosse: The Eagles are right back on the court on Saturday, heading to Lifetime Fitness in White Bear Lake, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. match against St. Scholastica.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies head back to the U of M Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn., next Saturday, hosting Hamline in a 2:30 MIAC match.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• The Cardinals' matches against UW-La Crosse and St. Thomas this weekend are the first of six straight home matches for the Cardinals. … With their 2-1 showing in Orlando, Fla., the Cardinals improved to 7-2 in nonconference play this season. Saint Mary's owns a 25-5 record against nonconference foes over the past three seasons, and is 41-8 in non-MIAC contests over the past four years. … Saint Mary's 5-4 win over Adrian was its first 5-4 match of the season—the Cardinals also own two 9-0 sweeps, three 7-2 victories and an 8-1 triumph. … Warren Lawrenz (Rochester, Minn.) heads into the weekend riding a four-match singles winning streak. … Lawrenz boasts a team-leading seven dual-match singles wins, and—thanks to a pair of victories at the Gustavus Invitational last fall—has a team-best nine overall singles wins. … Alex Holm (Red Wing, Minn.) has won three straight matches. … Kyle Swanson (Oak Grove, Minn.) collected his first collegiate singles win with a straight-set victory against Martin Luther on Feb. 20. … Saint Mary's is 37-29 in singles play through 11 matches this season. …  Saint Mary's has four players—Lawrenz, Holm, Brett Giesen (Cato, Wis.), and Brenden Amiotte (Rapid City, S.D.)—with seven dual-match doubles wins. … Holm and Lawrenz, who enjoyed a 3-1 run at last fall's Gustavus Invitational—own 11 overall doubles wins. … With their 9-0 win over Bethany Lutheran on Jan. 29, the Cardinals improved to 4-1 in their last five season-openers. … The Cardinals put together an 11-match winning streak in 2015—the longest in coach Jeff Halberg's 15 years at the helm. … Giesen owned a team-leading 13-match winning streak last season, while Amiotte and Holm boasted 11- and nine-match singles winning streaks last season.
 
Scouting The UW-La Crosse Eagles:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• The Eagles head into their weekend matches in the midst of a season-high five-match losing streak. … Friday's match against Saint Mary's is the fourth of five matches against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes. UW-L has already faced Carleton (L, 6-3), St. Olaf (L, 5-4), and Macalester (L, 5-4), and will square off against Bethel as part of its six-match spring trip to Orlando, Fla. … Matt Lindsay owns a team-leading five singles matches, one more than Joey Schneider. … UW-La Crosse is 18-24 in singles matches this season, while going 6-15 in doubles play. … Lindsay and Schneider share the team lead with four doubles wins each—the duo have teamed to go 4-2 at No. 2 doubles this season. … UW-La Crosse has used 13 different doubles combinations this season.
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• After opening the season with back-to-back losses to St. Cloud State and Gustavus, the Tommies have won two straight. … Both of the Tommies' wins this season have been on their home court—UST is 0-2 on the road. … Allen-Michael Muench is the team's leader with three singles wins in four matches, one more than Luke Elifson, Ben Wait, and Scott Wall. … As a team, St. Thomas is 10-14 in singles play—and still searching for its first win at No. 3 singles (0-4). … Eilfson and Wall have teamed to go 3-1 at No. 1 doubles for St. Thomas, while Muench and Brady Radermacher are 2-0 at No. 2. … St. Thomas has not swept, or been swept, in a match this season. UST's two wins have been by 6-3 and 8-1 counts, while their two losses were by scores of 7-2 and 8-1.