By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team returns to conference play this weekend, heading to the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center for matches against Bethel (Friday, 6:30 p.m.) and St. Thomas (Saturday, noon).
 
The Matchups:
Friday, February 22, 2019 * Minneapolis, Minn. * Baseline Tennis Center
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-1 MIAC, 2-2 Overall) at Bethel Royals (0-0 MIAC, 3-1 Overall), 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 23, 2019 * Minneapolis, Minn. * Baseline Tennis Center
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-1 MIAC, 2-2 Overall) at St. Thomas Tommies (3-0 MIAC, 4-0 Overall), Noon
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—February 9, 2019 * St. Peter, Minn.: The Cardinals dropped a pair of matches at Gustavus' Swanson Tennis Center, falling to the host Gusties 9-0 in the teams' conference opener, before dropping a heartbreaking 5-4 nonconference decision to St. Scholastica later in the day | Recap
• Bethel—February 15, 2019 * White Bear Lake, Minn.: The Royals had their season-opening three-match winning streak snapped, falling to Valparaiso 5-4 in a nonconference match at Lifetime Fitness | Recap
• St. Thomas—February 16-17 * Minneapolis, Minn./Owatonna, Minn.: The Tommies extended their season-opening winning streak to four straight last weekend, dropping St. Catherine 8-1 at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center last Saturday, before adding a second straight 8-1 win, this one over St. Olaf at the Owatonna Tennis Center the following day | SCU Recap * STO Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Bethel  — Their Last Meeting:
• February 10, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's took three of the six singles matches, but could not dig out of a 3-0 hole after doubles play, becoming the Royals' third straight victim with a 6-3 conference setback Saturday afternoon at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas — Their Last Meeting:
• March 9, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: St. Thomas jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the three doubles matches and the Cardinals never recovered, as the Tommies dealt Saint Mary's a 7-2 conference setback at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals head to Orlando, Fla., for nonconference matches against Davenport University and Hanover on Monday and Tuesday.
• Bethel: The Royals return home to the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis Minn., on March 2 for a pair of matches — a 9 a.m. nonconference contest against Grinnell and a 2 p.m. MIAC showdown vs. St. Olaf.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies return to action next Friday, heading to StaFit in Sartell, Minn., for a 6 p.m. MIAC matchup against Saint Benedict.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• This weekend's matches against Bethel and St. Thomas are the third and fourth of seven straight road matches for the Cardinals, who do not return to the Winona Tennis Center until March 10, when they host Hamline in a conference matchup. … The Cardinals' 9-0 conference-opening loss to defending regular-season MIAC champion Gustavus snapped their season-opening two-match winning streak. … Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.) — who had dropped just one game in winning her two singles matches to open the season — had her career-high 12-match winning streak snapped with a three-set, 5-7, 6-3, 10-4 loss to Gustavus on Feb. 9. Boeve rebounded with a 6-3, 6-2 win against St. Scholastica to improve to 12-1 in her last 13 matches. … Boeve, Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.), and Cassandra Barr (Eau Claire, Wis.) share the team lead with three singles wins each. … Sonday — who shared the team lead in singles wins a year ago (16) with Boeve — played her 62nd and 63rd consecutive match at No. 1 singles against Gustavus and St. Scholastica on Feb. 9. … Kennedy Morgan's (Green Bay, Wis.) win at No. 5 singles against Northwestern on Feb. 1 was her first collegiate singles victory. She becomes the third Cardinal to pick up collegiate win No. 1 this season, joining Kailee Johnson (Rochester, Minn.) and Madyson Schreiber (Edwardsville, Ill.), who notched their first singles wins against Martin Luther on Jan. 25. …  Sonday and Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.) teamed for an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles against St. Scholastica on Feb. 9 to improve to 3-1 as a doubles team this season — after going 15-4 as a doubles pair a year ago. … Ashley Fredrickson (St. James, Minn.) is second to both Sonday and Lois with two doubles wins through four matches. … With their 5-4 loss to St. Scholastica on Feb. 9, the Cardinals are now 51-19 against nonconference opponents since 2012. … With their season-opening win over Martin Luther on Jan. 25, the Cardinals have now opened the season with a 9-0 victory in four straight seasons. … The Cardinals are now 12-0 in their last 12 meetings with Martin Luther. … Sonday earned All-MIAC singles and doubles honors following her junior season a year ago, while Boeve collected her first collegiate First-Team All-MIAC singles honor, and Lois was a First-Team All-MIAC doubles selection in her first year as a Cardinal.
 
Scouting The Bethel Royals:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Friday's match against Saint Mary's is the first of three straight home matches for the Royals, who have been the home team in each of their first four matches this season. … Bethel's 5-4 loss to Valparaiso last Friday snapped the Royals' season-opening three-match winning streak. … BU dropped just one match during its season-opening run — sweeping both MSU-Mankato and Northwestern (Iowa) by 9-0 counts, before beating St. Scholastica 8-1. … Bethel is 21-2 in singles play through four matches, with Mackenzie Novak and Maggie Riermann leading the way with perfect 4-0 singles marks. Grace Riermann, Sydney Rott, Meghan Schuler, and Jill Weinzettel all own three singles wins through four matches. … BU is 4-0 at Nos. 1, 2, 3, singles, while going 3-0 at No. 6, and 3-1 at Nos. 4 and 5. … Novak, Grace Riermann, Maggie Riermann, and Weinzettel all share the team lead with three doubles wins each. … As a team, BU is 3-1 at both No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, while going 2-2 at No. 3. … Coming off their fourth MIAC Tournament appearance in the last six years last season, the Royals were picked to finish third in the MIAC Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• The Tommies head into this weekend's match against Saint Mary's riding a season-opening four-match winning streak. UST has dropped just two matches — falling at No. 5 singles against St. Catherine on Feb. 16 and at No. 4 singles against St. Olaf on Feb. 17. … UST is a perfect 12-0 in doubles play this season. … St. Thomas received two first-place votes to come in at No. 4 in the MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. … The Tommies feature a youthful roster that does not have a senior and just three juniors.