WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis coach Jeff Halberg must have felt like he had hopped into a time machine and traveled back in time one year.
 
After all, a year ago, the Cardinals gave St. Catherine all it could handle, falling just short in dropping a heartbreaking 5-4 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference decision to the Wildcats.
 
Fast-forward to Friday evening.
 
Same teams—and, unfortunately for Halberg, same end result.
 
The Cardinals fell behind 4-1 after the three doubles matches and two of the first six singles matches, before rallying with three straight singles wins to knot the match at 4-4.
 
That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as St. Catherine pulled out the 5-4 victory of the Winona Tennis Center.
 
"New year, same heartbreaking story," said Halberg. "We played with incredible heart tonight—we just came up just short. It was an awesome battle, but you have to give St. Catherine credit, they are a very good team and played very well."
 
Haley Jorgensen (Fallon, Nev.) and Marissa Kinzer (Aitkin, Minn.) collected Saint Mary's lone doubles win, posting a 9-8 decision at No. 3, as the Wildcats jumped out to the commanding 4-1 advantage.
 
Julie Boeve (St. James, Minn.) picked up a straight-set win at No. 4 singles, and Megan Vandenberg (DePere, Wis.) and Jorgensen added three-set wins at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, to pull the Cardinals even, 4-4.
 
St. Catherine's Bri Dorr put an end to the Cardinals' comeback, however, outlasting Saint Mary's Cassandra Barr (Eau Claire, Wis.) 7-6 (3), 2-6, 10-4 at No. 3 singles to seal the Wildcats' conference win.
 
The Cardinals (3-4 MIAC, 7-4 overall) return to action on Saturday, traveling to Arden Hills, Minn., for a conference match against Bethel. First serve is slated for noon.