By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis team hits the road for the first time this season, traveling to Gustavus' Swanson Tennis Center for a neutral-site match against St. Scholastica.
 
The Matchups:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-1 Overall) vs. St. Scholastica Saints (0-1 Overall)
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—February 1, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals picked up their second nonconference win of the season, knocking off Northwestern — a 2018 NCAA national championships qualifier — 7-2 at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
• St. Scholastica—February 2, 2019 * Virginia, Minn.: Serhil Tykhonenko collected CSS's lone victory — winning in straight sets at No. 1 singles — as the Saints dropped their season-opener, falling to UW-Eau Claire 8-1 at the Virginia Indoor Tennis Club | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Scholastica — Their Last Meeting:
• February 19, 2012 * Winona, Minn.: For the second year in a row, the Cardinals and Saints battled to a 5-4 outcome at the Winona Tennis Center. Unfortunately for Halberg and the Cardinals, it was the Saints who came out on top this time around | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in action next Saturday, when they return home to the Winona Tennis Center for nonconference matches against St. Norbert (12:30 p.m.) and Wartburg (6 p.m.).
• St. Scholastica: The Saints head home to the Duluth Indoor Tennis Center in Duluth, Minn., next Saturday, as CSS entertains Macalester in a 4 p.m. nonconference match.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Saturday's neutral-site match against St. Scholastica is the first road match of the season for the Cardinals, who opened with three straight matches at the Winona Tennis Center — and play five of their first six contests on their home courts. … The Cardinals swept all three doubles matches against Northwestern on Feb. 1, while adding four singles wins en route to the 7-2 win. Bobby Tiedeman (Euclid, Minn.)/Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.), Alec Rudh (Hastings, Minn.)/Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.), and Gabe Graves (Columbine, Colo.)/Brandon Jonson (St. James, Minn.) posted 8-2, 8-6, 8-2 doubles victories, respectively, against the Eagles, with Tiedeman, Smiley, Kurilla, and Graves coming away with straight-set singles victories. … Smiley and Kurilla both recorded their first collegiate singles wins against Martin Luther on Jan. 25 — Smiley won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2, while Kurilla posted a 6-1, 1-6, 10-8 win at No. 3. … Tiedemann — last year's singles wins leader with XXX — Smiley, and Kurilla all share the team lead with two singles wins through three matches this season. … Graves, Johnson, Kurilla, Smiley, and Tiedeman all share the team lead with two doubles victories. … The Cardinals have swept the three doubles matches in both of their two wins this season. … With their 7-2 win over Northwestern on Feb. 1, the Cardinals improved to 56-19 in nonconference matches since 2012. … Fueled by their 6-3 nonconference win over Martin Luther on Jan. 25, the Cardinals improved to 13-0 against the Knights — including six 9-0 wins in their last seven contests. … 
 
Scouting The St. Scholastica Saints:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• St. Scholastica heads into 2019 on the heels of a 9-10 season a year ago — including a perfect 7-0 run through the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference regular-season schedule that earned the Saints their 22nd straight UMAC regular-season title. The top-seeded Saints were beaten by Northwestern (Minn.) 5-4 in the UMAC Tournament to earn the conference's automatic NCAA berth. … St. Scholastica's loss to Northwestern in the conference tournament title match marked the Saints' first dual loss to a UMAC opponent since 1997. … Despite the tournament loss, CSS enters the season sitting atop the 2019 UMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. … CSS's 9-10 overall record in 2018 marked the first sub-.500 season since 2006. … St. Scholastica returns three All-UMAC players in Serhil Tykhonenko, Elliot Schneider, and Jack Kearney. … Tykhonenko enters Saturday's match against Saint Mary's having earned back-to-back UMAC Player of the Year honors. … Tykhonenko picked up the Saints' lone win in their season-opener against UW-Eau Claire last Saturday, winning 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. … Schneider closed out the 2018 season leading the team with 14 singles wins, three more than Kearney and four in front of Tykhonenko. … CSS had seven different players play at No. 5 singles last season, while six Saints played at least one match at No. 6. … Connor Croft owned the team lead in doubles wins a year ago with 10, one more than Tykhonenko. … St. Scholastica finished 63-51 in singles play in 2018, including 40-2 in UMAC action, while owning a 29-28 mark in doubles competition that included an 18-3 showing in conference play.