By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MADISON, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis team steps out of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, squaring off against Edgewood in a 4:30 p.m. nonconference match at the Cherokee Country Club.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-5 overall) at Edgewood Eagles (1-4 overall)
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's­—February 16-17, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals dropped both of their conference matches at the Winona Tennis Center last Saturday, falling to Macalester 7-2, before dropping a 9-0 decision later in the day | Macalester Recap * Gustavus Recap
• Edgewood—February 10, 2018 * Racine, Wis.: Even playing short-handed, Edgewood avoided being shut out by a pair of the region's top opponents, falling 8-1 to both Lake Forest and Carthage at the Racine Tennis Club | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Edgewood—Their Last Meeting:
• March 23, 2013 * Madison, Wis.: Saint Mary's continued its nonconference dominance on Saturday, as the Cardinals made it look easy in beating Edgewood 9-0 and Augustana 6-3 at the Nielsen Tennis Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals head to Orlando, Fla., for spring break, squaring off against Havover on Tuesday, before taking on Adrian the following day.
• Edgewood: The Eagles are right back in action on Saturday, traveling to Lifetime Fitness in Lakeville, Minn., for a 5 p.m. nonconference match against Northwestern.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• After seven straight home matches to open the season, Friday's matchup at Edgewood is the first of three consecutive road matches for the Cardinals. … The Cardinals enter Friday's matchup against Edgewood 3-0 against the Falcons all-time—sandwiching 9-0 wins around an 8-1 victory. … With their 8-1 win over Wartburg on Feb. 11, the Cardinals are now to 50-17 in nonconference matches since 2012. … Bobby Tiedeman (Euclid, Minn.) and the doubles team of Alex Zuzek (Hastings, Minn.)/Brett Giesen (Cato, Wis.) accounted for the Cardinal men's tennis team's 7-2 MIAC loss to Macalester last Saturday. Zuzek/Giesen rallied from a 4-1 deficit to post an 8-6 victory at No. 3 doubles, while Tiedeman rattled off six unanswered points in the third-set super-breaker to beat Macalester's Ben White 4-6, 6-1, 10-8 at No. 4 singles. … Tiedeman is the team's dual-match singles wins leader with four, one more than Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.). … The Cardinals have boasted the same lineup through the first five singles spots in all seven matches this season—Brenden Amiotte (Rapid City, S.D.) at No. 1, Brett Giesen (Cato, Wis.) at No. 2, Sobczak at No. 3, Tiedeman at No. 4, and Alec Rudh (Hastings, Minn.) at No. 5. … Tiedeman had his six-match singles winning streak snapped with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 loss at No. 4 against Bethel on Feb. 10. Tiedeman's winning streak covered wins in his last three singles matches a year ago, and the first three this season. … Amiotte kicked off his senior season in impressive fashion at the ITA Midwest Regional last October, rebounding from an opening-round loss to win six straight matches in claiming the consolation title, giving him eight overall singles wins thus far this season. … Alex Zuzek (Hastings, Minn.) owns a team-leading four dual-match doubles wins, one more than Amiotte, Giesen, Sobczak, Tiedeman, and Alex Holm (Red Wing, Minn.). … Saint Mary's lost just nine games in their six straight-set singles wins vs. Martin Luther on Jan. 26—including 6-0, 6-0 wins by Sobczak at No. 3 and Zuzek at No. 6. … Sobczak has won 11 of his last 15 singles matches. … Amiotte/Tiedemann, Sobczak/Holm, and Zuzek/Gabe Graves (Littleton, Colo.) combined to drop just three games in doubles play against Martin Luther on Jan. 26. …  Saint Mary's season-opening win over Martin Luther on Jan. 26 pushed its record to 12-0 vs. the Knights—including six straight 9-0 victories.
 
Scouting The Edgewood Eagles:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Eagles head into Friday's nonconference match against Saint Mary's having sandwiched a pair of two-match losing streaks around a 6-3 win over Elmhurst. … Edgewood opened the season with back-to-back 9-0 losses to Wabash and Augustana (Ill.), before following up its 6-3 win vs. Elmhurst with back-to-back 8-1 losses to Lake Forest and Carthage. … Friday's match against Saint Mary's is the first home match of the season for the Eagles, who opened the year with five straight road matches. … The Eagles' 6-3 win over Elmhurst was not only their first win of the season, but it was also the first collegiate coaching win for Edgewood head coach Bubba Schultz. … With his win at No. 1 singles against Elmhurst on Feb. 3, Evan Stone became the fifth Eagle in history to win at least 70 matches. He now has 37 singles wins and 34 doubles wins in his career. … Jackson Venske won his first career collegiate match with his win at No. 4 singles against Elmhurst on Feb. 3. … Stone (vs. Lake Forest) and Venske (vs. Carthage) accounted for the Eagles' two singles wins in last weekend's nonconference losses to Lake Forest and Carthage. … Stone and Venske share the team lead with two singles match each, while Sabastion Seeger owns Edgewood's only other singles victory. … Stone is 2-3 at No. 1 singles, while Venske is 2-3 at No. 4. … Seeger-Venske have teamed for Edgewood's lone doubles win.