WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team kicks off a busy Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference weekend on Friday, entertaining Hamline in a 6 p.m. match at the Winona Tennis Center, before heading to St. Peter, Minn., on Saturday for an 11 a.m. showdown with Gustavus.
 
The Matchups:
Friday, March 10, 2017 * Winona Tennis Center, Winona, Minn. * 6 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-2 MIAC, 4-2 Overall) vs. Hamline Pipers (0-3 MIAC, 0-5 Overall)
Saturday, March 11, 2017 * Winona, Minn. * 11 a.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-2 MIAC, 4-2 Overall) at Gustavus Gusties (3-0 MIAC, 7-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Hamline GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—February 26, 2017 * Stevens Point, Wis.: The Cardinals collected their third straight 9-0 nonconference victory, cruising past UW-Stevens Point in a nonconference match | Recap
• Hamline—February 18, 2017 * Owatonna, Minn.: The Pipers got a three-set, marathon win by Megan Anderson at No. 5 singles, but that would be their only win, as St. Olaf dealt Hamline an 8-1 conference setback | Recap
• Gustavus—March 4, 2017 * St. Peter, Minn.: The Gusties continued their torrid start to the 2017 season, cruising to a 9-0 conference win over Macalester | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Hamline—Their Last Meeting:
• April 16, 2016 * St. Paul, Minn.: Saint Mary's put together a near-perfect performance in less-than-perfect conditions en route to an 8-1 victory over the Pipers at Hamline's Holt Courts | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus—The Last Meeting:
• April 10, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Less than 24 hours after falling to St. Olaf—a team that was unbeaten in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference—Saint Mary's squared off against nationally ranked Gustavus at the Winona Tennis Center. And, unfortunately for coach Jeff Halberg, the Cardinals' gallant effort was not enough, as the Gusties—ranked No. 39 in the nation and No. 10 in the region—handed Saint Mary's a 9-0 conference setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: Following their matches against Hamline and Gustavus, the Cardinals return to the Winona Tennis Center next Sunday, hosting Concordia in a 9:30 a.m. conference matchup.
• Hamline: The Pipers are right back in action on Saturday, when they host St. Catherine in an 11:30 a.m. conference match at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center.
• Gustavus: Following their matches against Saint Mary's and Luther on Saturday, the Gusties are right back on the court on Sunday, heading to Moorhead, Minn., for a 4 p.m. MIAC matchup against Concordia.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Schedule | 2017 Statistics
• The Cardinals head into Friday's home match against Hamline having collected 21 of their 35 wins over the past three seasons on their home court. … All four of the Cardinals' wins—and both of their losses—have been 9-0 decisions. … Thanks to their 9-0 victory over UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 26, the Cardinals improved to 40-12 in nonconference action since 2012. … Saint Mary's dropped just seven games in sweeping North Central (Minn.) on Feb. 10, and followed that up by losing just eight games in its 9-0 win over Bethany Lutheran a week later. … With their win over Martin Luther on Jan. 27, the Cardinals have now opened the season with a 9-0 victory in back-to-back seasons. … The Cardinals improved to 10-0 in their last 10 meetings with Martin Luther and are 9-0 against Bethany Lutheran. … The Cardinals have not dropped a set in their four wins this season—although both Megan Vandenberg (De Pere, Wis.) in her first set and Emily Strezishar (East Grand Forks, N.D.) in her second needed to win a tiebreaker in their straight-set victories against UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 26. …  Vandenberg, Cassandra Barr (Eau Claire, Wis.), Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.), and Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.) all head into this weekend's matches riding three-match singles winning streaks. … Barr, Boeve, Sonday, and Vandenberg all share the team lead with four dual-match singles wins.   … Barr's 6-2, 6-2 loss at No. 5 singles against Carleton on Jan. 29 snapped the freshman's five-match singles winning streak. Barr kicked off her collegiate career in impressive fashion at the 2016 Gustavus Invitational, going a perfect 4-0 in singles play. … Strezishar's 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles against North Central (Minn.) on Feb. 10 was her first collegiate singles win. … Vandenberg, who owned a season-high six-match winning streak a year ago, posted a season- and career-high 17 singles wins in 2016. … Vandenberg's 17 singles wins rank No. 2 all-time, five wins shy of McKenna Edwards' 22-win total in 2012. … Vandenberg is also sitting No. 2 all-time in career singles wins with 47, while Haley Jorgensen (Fallon, Nev.) is third with 45. Bailey Edwards currently holds the school record with 57 career singles wins. … Summer Lardy (Richmond, Minn.) owns a team-leading five doubles wins, one more than Sonday, Jorgensen, Ashley Syed (Lewisville, Texas), and Marissa Kinzer (Aitkin, Minn.). … As a team, the Cardinals are 24-12 in dual-match singles wins, while going 12-6 in doubles play. … Coach Jeff Halberg has used eight different doubles combinations through six matches.
 
Scouting The Hamline Pipers:
2017 Roster | 2017 Schedule | 2017 Statistics
• The Pipers head into Friday's conference match against Saint Mary's still searching for their first win. Hamline has dropped its first five matches—three by 9-0 counts and the other two by 8-1 decisions. … Friday's match at Saint Mary's is the second straight road match for the Pipers, who play four of their first six matches on the road. … Megan Anderson has accounted for two of the Pipers three singles wins this season—including a marathon 2-6, 7-6, 16-14 win at No. 5 singles against St. Olaf last Saturday. … Lilli Denison owns HU's other singles victory this season. … The doubles teams of Denison/Emily Woolmuth and Anderson/Emily Butts have accounted for Hamline's two doubles wins this season.
 
Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2017 Roster | 2017 Schedule | 2017 Statistics
• Gustavus enters Saturday's match against Saint Mary's ranked No. 35 in the latest Oracle/ITA Division III rankings. … The Gusties head into their match against Saint Mary's riding a season-opening seven-match winning streak. … Six of GAC's seven wins this season have been 9-0 sweeps—the other was an 8-1 victory over Northwestern on Feb. 11. … Ally Baker enters Saturday's match against Saint Mary's owning a team-leading seven dual-match singles wins—one more than Katie Aney, Lilly Hartman, and Briana Hartmann. … Six of Baker's seven singles wins have come at No. 2. … Eleven different Gusties have recorded at least one singles win through seven matches. … Cal Carlson and Hartman lead the team with seven dual-match doubles wins—teaming for one victory at No. 1 doubles and six at No. 2. … Aney, Baker, Hartman, and Micaela Schulz have all recorded six doubles wins. … As a team, Gustavus is 41-1 in dual match singles competition, while going 21-0 in doubles play.