WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, as the Cardinals head to Lifetime Fitness for a 6:30 p.m. showdown with Macalester.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-4 MIAC, 7-5 Overall) at Macalester Scots (0-1 MIAC, 4-5 Overall), 6:30 p.m.
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—March 19, 2017 | Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals rallied from a 4-2 deficit, but came up just short in their conference match against Concordia, falling to the Cobbers 5-4 at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
• Macalester—March 16 * Orlando, Fla.: The Scots came up empty in their final spring trip match, falling to the University of Mobile (Ala.) 9-0 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Macalester—Their Last Meeting:
• April 17, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Macalester got off to a quick start, and never looked back, in handing the Cardinals a 9-0, season-ending Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are now off until next Saturday, when they travel to the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 6:30 p.m. conference matchup against Bethel.
• Macalester: The Scots are right back in action on Saturday, heading to Lifetime Fitness in Lakeville, Minn., for a 4:30 p.m. conference contest against Concordia.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Schedule | 2017 Statistics
• Friday's match against Macalester is the first of back-to-back road matches for the Cardinals, who are 4-3 away from the Winona Tennis Center this season. … Saint Mary's loss to nationally ranked Gustavus on March 1 snapped the Cardinals' season-high four-match winning streak. … Three of the Cardinals' five losses this season have been 9-0 decisions—the exceptions, 5-4 losses to Concordia on March 19 and Carroll on Feb. 18. … Three of Saint Mary's four conference losses have come against the top three teams in the MIAC standings—Carleton, Gustavus, and St. Thomas—all of which are unbeaten in conference play. … Saint Mary's is a near-perfect 5-1 in nonconference play—the lone setback, a 5-4 decision at Carroll on Feb. 18. … With their 3-0 showing in their last three nonconference matches, the Cardinals improved to 47-16 in nonconference play since 2012. … Saint Mary's has put together two, 9-0 victories this season—sweeping Bethany Lutheran on Feb. 17 and Martin Luther on Jan. 20. … Saint Mary's has won nine straight against Bethany Lutheran and are 11-0 against Martin Luther—including five straight 9-0 victories. … With his three-set, 6-2, 4-6, 11-9 win against Concordia, Bobby Tiedeman (Euclid, Minn.) pushed his team-leading singles wins total to eight. … Alex Zuzek (Hastings, Minn.), who put together a season-high five-match singles winning streak earlier this season, and Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.) are second to Tiedeman with seven dual-match singles wins. … Saint Mary's had three players—Tiedeman, Sobczak, and Jake Allen (Winona, Minn.)—record their first collegiate singles wins against Martin Luther on Jan. 20. … Tiedeman and Brenden Amiotte (Rapid City, Minn.) share the team lead with eight dual-match doubles wins, three more than Zuzek, Sobczak, Andrew Johnson (Rochester, Minn.), and Alex Holm (Red Wing, Minn.). … Amiotte and Tiedemann have teamed up to win five of their last six matches at No. 2 doubles. … The Cardinals dropped just nine games in cruising to six, straight-set singles wins in in their season-opening 9-0 nonconference win over Martin Luther. … With their 9-0 win over Martin Luther on Jan. 20, the Cardinals improved to 5-1 in their last six season openers. … Saint Mary's owns a 3-1 record on their home court, while going 4-3 away from the Winona Tennis Center this season.
 
Scouting The Macalester Scots:
2017 Roster | 2017 Schedule | 2017 Statistics
• Macalester enters Friday's match against Saint Mary's have dropped each of its last two matches. … After opening the season with back-to-back 9-0 wins over Martin Luther and Ripon, Macalester lost three straight, falling 6-3 to both St. Scholastica and UW-Whitewater, while dropping a 9-0 decision to Gustavus. Macalester then went 2-2 in its four-match spring trip— beating Gettysburg (6-3) and St. Ambrose (6-0), before falling to Franklin and Marshall (7-2) and University of Mobile (Ala.) (9-0). … Aidan Tirpack enters Friday's match against Saint Mary's owning a team-best six singles wins—going 2-0 at No. 1 and 4-3 at No. 2. … Peter Willenborg is second to Tirpak with five singles wins, while Ben Wilson owns four. … Willenborg, Wilson and Matthew Yang share the team lead with five doubles wins each. … Josh Doyle/ Yang and Willenborg/Wilson have been the Scots' most productive doubles teams, both compiling 3-3 records. … Macalester is 25-26 in singles play this season—including 5-3 at No. 1, 6-3 at No. 2, and 5-4 and both Nos. 5 and 6. … In doubles action, the Scots are 13-14, including 5-4 showings at Nos. 1 and 3.