By
Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
LAKEVILLE, Minn. — Just days after St. Catherine put an end to the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team's season-high five-match winning streak, the Cardinals got back on the winning track Tuesday evening—in impressive fashion.
The Cardinals—still clinging to hopes of clinching a second straight Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoff berth—got a straight-set win from
Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.) at No. 1 singles to break a 4-4 deadlock and lift Saint Mary's to a 5-4 conference win over the Oles at Lifetime Fitness.
"That was a big, big win," said Saint Mary's coach
Jeff Halberg. "Every match is so important for us if we want to get back to the (MIAC) playoffs—we had some outstanding performances and pulled out the win tonight.
"Our playoff hopes are still alive."
Saint Mary's jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the doubles portion of the match, as Sonday and
Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.) picked up an 8-6 win at No. 1, and
Cassandra Barr (Eau Claire, Wis.) and
Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.) added an 8-4 win at No. 2.
St. Olaf collected wins at No. 2, No. 5, and No. 6 singles, while Saint Mary's earned straight-set wins by Lois at No. 3 and Boeve at No. 4 to knot the match at 4-4—and set up Sonday's heroics.
The Cardinal sophomore came through in the clutch, posting her 11
th straight singles win—a 6-4, 6-4 victory over St. Olaf's Sabrina Barboza to clinch the win.
The Cardinals (3-5 MIAC, 11-8 overall) close out their regular-season schedule this 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.
