By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team steps out of conference play on Tuesday, entertaining UW-River Falls in a 3 p.m. nonconference matchup at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (9-7 overall) vs. UW-River Falls Falcons (2-10 overall)
 
GameDay Live on the Web:
• GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—March 25, 2018 * Green Bay, Wis.: The Cardinals picked up a pair of nonconference victories, sweeping Wisconsin Lutheran and dropped St. Norbert 8-1 | Recap
• UW-River Falls—March 4, 2018 * Bemidji, Minn.: The Falcons came up empty in their nonconference match against Bemidji State, falling to the Beavers 9-0.
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-River Falls—Their Last Meeting:
• April 12, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the three doubles matches, with Laura Sonday and Ashley Syed (Lewisville, Texas) collecting an 8-1 win at No. 1, while Emily Strezishar and Paige Swanson added an 8-4 victory at No. 3. And once the Cardinals got to the singles portion, they were unstoppable, sweeping the six matches—including five in straight sets en route to the 8-1 win over the Falcons at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are now off until April 13, when they travel to St Paul, Minn., for a 4 p.m. conference match against St. Catherine.
• UW-River Falls:
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Cardinals head into Tuesday's match against UW-River Falls riding a season-high four-match winning streak, while also winning five of their last six. … The Cardinals are unbeaten in their last 15 meetings with UW-River Falls. … Five of Saint Mary's nine wins this season have been 9-0 sweeps. The Cardinals also own three 8-1 victories and a 5-4 decision over Macalester. … With her back-to-back straight-set wins at No. 1 singles against Wisconsin Lutheran and St. Norbert last Sunday, Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.) extended her singles winning streak to eight straight. … Sonday is now 11-1 in her last 12 singles matches. … Sonday (No. 1, 13-3) is the only Cardinal to have played all 16 matches at the same position—and has now played 54 consecutive matches at No. 1. … Sonday owns a team-leading 13 dual-match singles wins, two more than Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.)—who has won her last six straight singles matches—and four in front of Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.) and Cassandra Barr (Eau Claire, Wis.). … Lois did not lose a game in her singles or doubles matches against Adrian on Feb. 28. The sophomore won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 singles, while also teaming up with Sonday for an 8-0 win at No. 1 doubles. … As a doubles team, Sonday/Lois share the team lead in dual-match doubles wins with 12. … Sonday and Lois had their season-high five-match doubles winning streak snapped with an 8-2 loss at No. 1 against Bethel on Feb. 10. … Sonday/Lois have accounted for 12 of the Cardinals' 30 doubles wins this season. … Lois kicked off her collegiate career with five straight victories last September—winning all three of her singles matches in the Gustavus Fall Invitational, while teaming with Sonday for a pair of doubles wins at the ITA/Oracle Midwest Region Tournament. … Boeve and Ashley Frederickson (St. James, Minn.) won their doubles draw at the Gustavus Fall Invitational last September, winning three straight matches. … The Cardinals are 60-36 in singles play this season, while owning a 30-18 record in doubles play. … The Cardinals lost just five games in the six singles matches—and two games in their three doubles matches—in their 9-0 sweep of North Central on March 16. … The Cardinals improved to 5-0 all-time against Edgewood with their 8-1 win over Feb. 23. … With their season-opening win over Martin Luther on Jan. 26, the Cardinals have now opened the season with a 9-0 victory in three straight seasons. … The Cardinals are now 11-0 in their last 11 meetings with Martin Luther. … The Cardinals won all six singles matches against Martin Luther in straight sets. All six Saint Mary's singles players recorded at least one 6-0 set against MLC—including a 6-0, 6-0 win by Boeve at No. 4 and a 6-1, 6-0 victory by Lois at No. 3. … The Cardinals, who went 7-1 in nonconference play a year ago, are 46-16 in non-MIAC matches since 2012. … The Cardinals made their first MIAC Playoff appearance since 2010 a year ago, falling to third-seeded St. Thomas 5-0.
 
Scouting The UW-River Falls Falcons:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Tuesday's match against Saint Mary's is the third match of the spring for the Falcons, who opened the 2018 portion of their schedule by beating UM-Crookston 7-2 and falling to Bemidji State 9-0 on March 4. … The Falcons' two wins this season have come on neutral-site courts—beating Lawrence 8-1 in Menomonie, Wis., to open the season on Sept. 3, while adding their 7-2 win over UM-Crookston in Bemidji, Minn., on March 4. UW-RF is 0-3 at home and 0-5 on the road, while going 2-2 in neutral-site matches. … Brittany Asfeld (4) and Hannah Andress (3) have accounted for seven of UW-River Falls' 11 singles wins this season—Asfeld has won all four of her matches at No. 1, while Andress' three victories have come at No. 4. … The Falcons are just 1-9 at Nos. 2, 3, 5, and 6 singles. … Andress and Molly Deering have combined to earn three of the Falcons' four doubles wins—all at No. 2. … Karli Helland/Marilyn Schimanski own UW-RF's other doubles win.