ST. PETER, Minn. — A year ago, Brenden Amiotte (Rapid City, S.D.) and Bobby Tiedemann (Euclid, Minn.) teamed up for seven doubles wins for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis team.
 
And Friday afternoon, the Cardinal duo picked up right where they left off, as Amiotte/Tiedemann opened ITA Midwest Region Tournament play with a convincing 8-0 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan's Adam Olson/Hale Breit.
 
The Cardinal duo was not as fortunate in the second round, falling Coe's David Youngs/Erik Porter, 8-5.
 
The Cardinals did not fare as well in the singles portion of the three-day ITA Midwest Regional Tournament Friday, as Tiedemann, Amiotte, Brett Giesen (Cato, Minn.), Alex Zuzek (Hastings, Minn.), and Alex Holm (Red Wing, Minn.) all suffered opening-round setbacks.
 
Giesen opened with a 7-5 win in the first set of his match against Jess Hansen of Saint John's, but dropped the next two, 6-4, 6-3. Zuzek suffered a 6-3, 6-0 loss to UW-Whitewater's Matt Zurowski, while Tiedemann fell to T. Connor Shives of Gustavus (6-4, 6-2), Amiotte lost to UW-Whitewater's Jimmy Englehart (6-4, 6-2), and Holm came out on the short end of a 6-0, 6-2 decision against Carleton's Aaron Goodman.
 
Alex Rudh (Hastings, Minn.) kicked off his collegiate career with a bang at the Midwest Open Friday—held in conjunction with the ITA Midwest Regional and also hosted by Gustavus—cruising to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan's Matteus Bustamonte. Rudh was not as fortunate in the second round, however, falling to Gustavus' Can Aras Thierfhoff, 6-4, 6-4.
 
Gabe Graves (Littleton, Colo.)—also making his collegiate debut—lost 6-1, 6-1 to Carleton's Jonas Lindholm-Uzzi, while Ryan Hippman (Bollingbrook, Ill.) dropped a 6-3, 6-1 decision to Hamline's Chris Bale.
 
In doubles play at the Midwest Open, Giesen/Zuzek suffered an 8-1 loss to Grinnell's Jack Lunn/Michael Conlin-Brandenburg, while Rudh/Hippman came out on the short end of an 8-4 decision against St. Olaf's Spencer DeVeau/Kevin Kaikus, and Holm/Graves were defeated by Jared Saue/Carter Steffes of Concordia 8-4.
 
The Cardinals will be back on the Gustavus Courts for the second day of the three-day tournament on Saturday.