WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis team kicks off a busy weekend at the Winona Tennis Center on Friday, hosting Saint John's in a 7 p.m. MIAC contest. The Cardinals will follow that up with nonconference matches against Luther (2 p.m.) and North Central (6 p.m.) on Saturday.
 
The Matchups:
Friday, March 11, 2016 * Winona Tennis Center
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-3 MIAC, 7-6 Overall) vs. Saint John's Johnnies (2-2 MIAC, 2-4 Overall), 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 12, 2016 * Winona Tennis Center
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-6 Overall) vs. Luther Norse (7-4 Overall), 2 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-6 Overall) vs. North Central Rams (0-2 Overall), 6 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• SJU GameDay * Luther GameDay * North Central GameDay
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals dropped a pair of matches last weekend at the Winona Tennis Center, falling to UW-La Crosse 8-1 last Friday, before dropping a 9-0 MIAC decision to St. Thomas a day later | UW-L Recap * UST Recap
• Saint John's: The Johnnies have been off since Feb. 27, when they dropped a 6-3 conference decision to St. Thomas at U of M Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn. | Recap
• Luther: The Norse picked up a pair of nonconference wins last Friday, beating Macalester 8-1 at the Lifetime Fitness in White Bear Lake, Minn., before adding a 7-2 win over Hamline at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn., later in the day | Macalester Recap * Hamline Recap
• North Central: The Rams have not played since Feb. 6, when they dropped a 9-0 decision to St. Scholastica at Lifetime Fitness in Bloomington, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint John's—Their Last Meeting:
• April 12, 2015 * Collegeville, Minn.: Warren Lawrenz (Rochester, Minn.) posted a convincing 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles, giving the Cardinals something no other Saint Mary's men's tennis team has ever achieved—a victory over the Johnnies, a 5-4 decision at the Fitness Revolution | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Luther—Their Last Meeting:
• February 7, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's, coming off its first win of the season with a convincing 9-0 nonconference win over Bethany Lutheran, was back on the court early the following morning. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the outcome wasn't quite the same, as Saint Mary's dropped heartbreaking 5-4 nonconference decision to regionally ranked Luther at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. North Central—Their Last Meeting:
• April 20, 2013 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals gave their four graduating seniors a perfect Senior Day present in their final home match of the season—an impressive 9-0 nonconference win over North Central at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are off until next Sunday, traveling to Courts Plus in Fargo, N.D., for an 11:30 a.m. conference match against Concordia.
• Saint John's: The Johnnies are right back on the Winona Tennis Center courts on Saturday, squaring off against Luther in an 11 a.m. nonconference match.
• Luther: The Norse return to action on Saturday, taking on Saint John's in an 11 a.m. nonconference showdown at the Winona Tennis Center.
• North Central: The Rams are back on the court next Friday, traveling to Lifetime Fitness in Lakeville, Minn., for a 5 p.m. showdown with Bethany Lutheran.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• The Cardinals are in the midst of a six-match homestand. … With their 8-1 loss to UW-La Crosse last Friday, the Cardinals slipped to 7-3 in nonconference play this season. Saint Mary's owns a 25-6 record against nonconference foes over the past three seasons, and is 41-9 in non-MIAC contests over the past four years. … Saint Mary's 5-4 win over Adrian on Feb. 28 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 having won seven of his last 10 singles matches. … 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. … 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 38-40 in singles play through 13 matches this season. …  Saint Mary's has four players—Lawrenz, Alex Holm (Red Wing, Minn.), 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 Saint John's Johnnies:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Saturday's match against Saint Mary's is the second of 10 straight road matches for the Johnnies, who do not play at home again until April 14 against St. Cloud State. … Four of the Johnnies' first six matches were at home. … SJU's 6-3 loss to St. Thomas on Feb. 27 was its second straight setback—the Johnnies lost to Michigan Tech 7-2 on Feb. 20. … Saint John's first six matches of the season have now consisted of three, two-game streaks—two, two-game losing streaks sandwiched around a two-game winning streak. … Tim Larson owns a team-leading four singles wins, one more than Ryan Meger and two in front of Hunter Krebsbach, Ben Lahren, and Andrew Nagel. … The Johnnies are still searching for their first win at No. 1 singles, going 0-6 through their first six matches. … Lahren, Larson, Meger, and Jonah Punnoose all share the team lead with three doubles wins. … As a team, the Johnnies are 13-23 in singles play and 7-11 in doubles. … SJU has used seven different doubles combinations through six matches.
 
Scouting The Luther Knights:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Luther heads into this weekend's matches riding a three-match winning streak. The Norse are also 4-1 in their last five. … Luther is in the midst of a 19-match, season-opening road trip. The Norse do not play their first home match until April 9, when they entertain Buena Vista. … Anders Jensen and Isaiah Mayerchad share the team lead with seven singles wins each, one more than Kyle Appel, Sam Buffington, and Trent Schneider. … Luther has had five different players compete at No. 4 singles this season. … The Norse are 9-2 at No. 5 singles, while going 8-3 at Nos. 1, 3 and 4. … Appel and Schneider have teamed up to win a team-leading five doubles matches—all at No. 1. … Mayerchak-Jake Smith are a perfect 3-0 in doubles play. … The Norse are 8-2 at No. 3 doubles, where they have used five different combinations. … As a team, Luther is 46-20 in singles and 21-11 in doubles.
 
Scouting The North Central Rams:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• The Rams head into Saturday's match at Saint Mary's still searching for its first win, having dropped back-to-back 9-0 decisions to Northwestern and St. Scholastica to open the season. … North Central has lost all 12 of its singles matches this season in straight sets—winning just eight singles games vs. Northwestern on Jan. 30, and only 14 vs. St. Scholastica. … Nine of the Rams' last 17 losses have been by 9-0 decisions. … North Central is coming off a 1-14 campaign in 2015—including a 1-9 record in the UMAC.