By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team has a busy conference weekend, as the Cardinals open with a 7:30 p.m. MIAC match against St. Catherine Friday at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn., before traveling to Lakeville, Minn., for a 6:30 p.m. conference match against St. Olaf at Lifetime Fitness on Tuesday.
 
The Matchups:
Friday, April 13, 2018 * U of M Baseline Tennis Center, Minneapolis, Minn. * 7:30 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-4 MIAC, 10-7 overall) at St. Catherine Wildcats (1-3 MIAC, 8-3 overall)
Tuesday, April 17, 2018 * Lifetime Fitness, Lakeville, Minn. * 1 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-4 MIAC, 10-7 overall) at St. Olaf Oles (4-3 MIAC, 7-3 overall)
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—March 27, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals won all six singles matches—including five in straight sets—in dealing UW-River Falls an 8-1 nonconference setback at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
• St. Catherine—March 28, 2018 * Chicago, Ill.: The Wildcats could not have asked for a better start, middle and ending to its trip to Chicago. After earning two nonconference wins over Aurora and Elmhurst earlier in the week, St. Kate's closed out its trip with another nonconference victory, this time an 8-1 win over North Central (Ill.) | Recap
• St. Olaf—April 7, 2018 * Fargo, N.D.: The Oles picked up wins in all three doubles matches and never looked back, cruising to a 7-2 MIAC win over Concordia at Courts Plus | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Catherine—Their Last Meeting:
• March 31, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals fell behind 4-1 after the three doubles matches and two of the first six singles matches, before rallying with three straight singles wins to knot the match at 4-4. That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as St. Catherine pulled out the 5-4 victory of the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Olaf—Their Last Meeting:
• April 8, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals kept their slim post-season hopes alive, cruising to an impressive 7-2 victory over the Oles at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals close out their regular-season schedule next weekend, traveling to the U of M Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 1:30 p.m. conference match on Saturday against Hamline, before returning home to the Winona Tennis Center the following day to square off against Saint Benedict at noon.
• St. Catherine: The Wildcats are right back in action on Sunday, heading to Moorhead, Minn., for a 12:30 p.m. conference match against Concordia.
• St. Olaf: The Oles are now off until April 24, when they return to the Carlson Courts in Northfield, Minn., for a 4 p.m. MIAC match against Macalester.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Cardinals head into this weekend's matches against St. Catherine ad St. Olaf riding a season-high five-match winning streak, while also winning six of their last seven. … Five of Saint Mary's 10 wins this season have been 9-0 sweeps. The Cardinals also own four 8-1 victories and a 5-4 triumph over Macalester. … With her straight-set win at No. 1 singles against UW-River Falls on March 27, Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.) extended her singles winning streak to nine straight. … Sonday is now 12-1 in her last 13 singles matches. … Sonday (No. 1, 14-3) is the only Cardinal to have played all 17 matches at the same position—and has now played 55 consecutive matches at No. 1. … Sonday owns a team-leading 14 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' 32 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—and have won all five doubles matches win which they have been paired up. … The Cardinals are 66-36 in singles play this season, while owning a 32-19 record in doubles play. … With their victory over UW-River Falls on March 27, the Cardinals are now unbeaten in their last 16 meetings with the Falcons. … 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 47-16 in nonconference 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 St. Catherine Wildcats:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Wildcats head into Friday's showdown against Saint Mary's riding a three-match winning streak. SCU has also won four of its last five matches, the lone loss a 9-0 loss to Carleton on March 3. … All three of St. Catherine's losses this season have come against MIAC opponents—Carleton, St. Olaf (5-4), and St. Thomas (8-1). … Maddy Knoll and Leah Obert are the team's singles wins leaders with eight each—both are 8-1 this season. … Ella Graham and Julia Sporer tied for third on the team with seven singles wins each. … Both Knoll and Obert enter Friday's match against the Cardinals riding four-match singles winning streaks, with Sporer, Alisha Wiedmeier, Ruth Rike, and Aubrey Eckstrom all having won each of their last three singles matches. … The Wildcats are 10-1 at No. 4 singles, while going 9-2 at No. 6, and 8-3 at both No. 3 and No. 4. … Bri Dorr and Ella Graham share the team lead with nine doubles wins. Door and Graham are a perfect 6-0 as a doubles team—with all five wins at No. 2 doubles—while Dorr has added three wins when teamed with Eckstrom, and Graham owns two other doubles wins with Obert and one with Knoll. … As a team, the Wildcats are 47-19 in singles play, while going 24-9 in doubles action.
 
Scouting The St. Olaf Oles:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• With their 7-2 win over Concordia last Saturday, the Oles put an end to their season-high three-match losing streak. The Oles had opened the season with six straight wins, before dropping back-to-back-to-back matches to Gustavus, St. Thomas, and Carleton—all by 8-1 scores. … Elle Bergstrand and Erin McDonald share the team lead in singles wins with six each, two more than Sophia Skoglund. … Five of McDonald's six singles wins have come at No. 2, where she is 5-3, while five of Bergstrand's six singles wins have come at No. 6, where she is 5-2. … As a team, the Oles—who are 28-30 in singles play—are 9-2 at No. 6 singles, and 5-5 at Nos. 2, 3, and 5. … The doubles teams of McDonald/Sabrina Barboza and Greta Prokosch/Emily Otteson share the team lead with six doubles wins each. … St. Olaf owns a 17-13 record in its 30 doubles matches this season.