ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team entered its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against nationally ranked Gustavus riding a pair of streaks.
• Streak #1: The Cardinals took the court against the Gusties have won each of its last four matches—including a 9-0 sweep of Hamline Friday evening at the Winona Tennis Center.
• Streak #2: With Friday's win over the Pipers, all seven of the Cardinals' matches this season have been decided by 9-0 decisions.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, when the dust finally settled Saturday afternoon, only one streak remained in tact.
Gustavus put an end to Saint Mary's four-match winning streak—while pushing the Cardinals' run of 9-0 decisions to eight—with a 9-0 victory at the Swanson Tennis Center.
"We ran into a buzz saw today," said Saint Mary's coach
Jeff Halberg. "I thought we played very well, but Gustavus was just a touch better—they certainly deserve their national ranking."
The Gusties opened with 8-1, 8-1, 8-4 wins in the three doubles matches, before sweeping five of the six singles matches in straight sets.
Haley Jorgensen (Fallon, Nev.) opened with a 6-4 win at No. 5 singles, but dropped the next two sets 6-2, 10-4 in falling to GAC's Katie Aney.
The Cardinals (1-3 MIAC, 5-3 overall) are back in action next Sunday, returning to the Winona Tennis Center for a 9:30 a.m. conference matchup against Concordia.
