WINONA, Minn. — The start wasn't exactly what Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis coach Jeff Halberg had hoped for—but the finish certainly was.
 
The Cardinals got off to a slow start in their nonconference match against Northwestern Wednesday afternoon, dropping two of three doubles matches to head into singles action staring at a 2-1 deficit.
 
Fortunately for Halberg, Saint Mary's proved to have quite the finishing kick, as the Cardinals won five of the six singles matches en route to a 6-3 victory at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
"It was a good win for the guys today," said Halberg, whose men improved to 9-7 overall heading into Saturday's regular-season finale­—a 3 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at Saint John's. "We started out a little slow in doubles, but really came roaring back in singles.
 
"It was a good prep for a big, big match against Saint John's."
 
Alex Zuzek (Hastings, Minn.) and Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.) teamed for an 8-1 win at No. 3 doubles, while Brenden Amiotte (Rapid City, S.D.)/Bobby Tiedemann (Euclid, Minn.) and Andrew Johnson (Rochester, Minn.)/Brett Giesen (Cato, Wis.) suffered back-to-back 8-6 losses at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, leaving Saint Mary's staring at a 2-1 hole.
 
The Cardinals took charge in singles, getting straight-set wins from Amiotte, Giesen, Tiedemann, and Sobczak, while Zuzek needed three sets for a 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 victory at No. 5. Johnson came up just short in the Cardinals' other singles match, dropping a marathon at No. 4 to the Eagles' Sam Bostrom, 2-6, 6-4, 17-15.