By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PETER/WINONA, Minn. — It's a busy weekend for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team, as the Cardinals play a pair of matches against Gustavus (10 a.m.) and St. Scholastica (2:30 p.m.) on Saturday at GAC's Swanson Tennis Center, before returning home to the Winona Tennis Center on Sunday for a 2 p.m. matchup against Carleton.
 
The Matchups:
Saturday, February 9, 2019 * St. Peter, Minn.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0 MIAC, 2-0 Overall) at Gustavus Gusties (0-0 MIAC, 0-0 Overall), 10 a.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-0 Overall) vs. St. Scholastica Saints (0-1 Overall), 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 10, 2019 * Winona, Minn.
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0 MIAC, 2-0 Overall) vs. Carleton Knights (1-0 MIAC, 1-1 Overall), 2 p.m.
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—February 1, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals picked up their second straight win to open the season, picking up wins in five of the six singles matches en route to a 7-2 nonconference victory over Northwestern at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
• Gustavus—Saturday's matches against Saint Mary's and St. Scholastica are the season-openers for the Gusties.
• St. Scholastica—Brynne Hauer picked up wins in both singles and doubles, but it was not enough, as NCAA Division II UM-Duluth edged the Saints 4-3 at the Duluth Indoor Tennis Center | Recap
• Carleton—February 2, 2019 * Moorhead, Minn.: The Knights kicked off the 2019 conference season in impressive fashion, rolling to a 9-0 win over Concordia at the Moorhead Tennis Courts | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus  — Their Last Meeting:
• February 18, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals — coming off a thrilling 5-4 win over Macalester — could not come up with win No. 2 on the weekend, as nationally ranked Gustavus cruised to a 9-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Scholastica  — Their Last Meeting:
• February 3, 2018 * Duluth, Minn.: The final score may have read 6-3, but the Cardinals' nonconference matchup against St. Scholastica was much closer than that final score indicates. All three doubles matches were decided by 8-6 scores, while three of the six singles matches went to a third set. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, when the dust settled, it was the Saints who came away with the 6-3 win at Arrowhead Tennis Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Carleton  — Their Last Meeting:
• January 28, 2018 * Lakeville, Minn.: Carleton — picked by the MIAC coaches to bring home the MIAC regular-season title — gave the Cardinals a first-hand look at just how powerful they were, as the Knights swept all six singles matches in straight sets in dealing Saint Mary's an 8-1 setback at Lifetime Fitness | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: Following this weekend's three matches, the Cardinals are off until Feb. 22-23, when they hit the road for pair of conference contests at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Saint Mary's will face Bethel at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 22, before squaring off against St. Thomas at noon the following day.
• Gustavus: Following their five matches this weekend, the Gusties are back on the courts next Saturday, with split squads squaring off against Mary and MSU-Moorhead at home, while facing North Dakota and Concordia on the road.
• St. Scholastica: Following their three matches this weekend — against Bethel, Saint Mary's and Gustavus — the Saints are back on the courts next Saturday, returning home to the Duluth Indoor Tennis Center for a 1 p.m. nonconference match against Macalester.
• Carleton: The Knights are back in action next weekend, hosting NCAA Division I Valparaiso in a 10 a.m. nonconference match at the Lakeville (Minn.) Lifetime Fitness on Saturday, before heading to the U of M Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 2:30 p.m. conference matchup against Hamline the following day.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• With their 7-2 win over Northwestern on Feb. 1, the Cardinals have now won back-to-back games to open the season. … Saint Mary's picked up wins in five of the six singles matches against Northwestern on Feb. 1 — getting straight-set victories from Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.), Cassandra Barr (Eau Claire, Wis.), Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.), Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.), and Kennedy Morgan (Green Bay, Wis.). … With her 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles, Boeve has now dropped just one game in her four singles sets this season — the senior posted a season-opening 6-0, 6-0 win against Martin Luther on Jan. 25. … Lois has also been dominating thus far this season, surrendering just two games in her 6-1, 6-1 singles win over Northwestern, after blanking Martin Luther 6-0, 6-0 the previous week. … Boeve's 2-0 start to the season pushed her singles winning streak to 12. … Morgan's 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 — who shared the team lead in singles wins a year ago (16) with Boeve — played her 61st consecutive match at No. 1 singles against Northwestern on Feb. 1. …  Sonday/Lois teamed for an 8-3 win at No. 1 doubles against Northwestern on Feb. 1, Julia Boeve/Ashley Frederickson (St. James, Minn.) added an 8-1 triumph. … Sonday/Lois are now a perfect 2-0 as a doubles team — after going 15-4 as a doubles pair a year ago. … Fueled by their 7-2 win over Northwestern on Feb. 1, the Cardinals improved to 51-18 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 Gustavus Gusties:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Gustavus heads into its season-openers against Saint Mary's and St. Scholastica on Saturday on the heels of a 18-8 overall showing a year ago — including a perfect 10-0 run through the MIAC regular-season schedule. … The Gusties, who claimed their 29^th regular-season crown, beat Carleton 5-2 in their MIAC Tournament title match to land their eighth post-season title — and a berth in the NCAA Division III national tournament. … GAC went 1-1 in the NCAA tourney, blanking St. Scholastica 6-0, before falling to UW-Whitewater 5-2. … The Gusties — picked by the MIAC coaches as the team to beat in 2019 — return three of their five First-Team All-MIAC selections from a year ago — Briana Hartmann, Lily Hartman, and Ginger Valentine. … Along with leading the Gustie team at the NCAA championship Hartmann also competed as an individual, opening with a three-set, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 win over Ella Riddle of Linfield, before falling 6-0, 6-2 to defending national champion Eudice Chong of Wesleyan. … Briana Hartmann closed out 2018 with a team-leading 26 singles wins, while Valentine was second with 20. All told, Gustavus boasted six players with 10 or more singles victories a year ago. Joining Briana Hartmann and Valentine were Katie Aney (19), Ally Baker (14), Lilly Hartman (12), and Sheila Sullivan (11). … The Gusties composed a near-perfect 54-6 singles record in conference play last season — led by Aney, Lilly Hartmann and Valentine with unblemished 10-0 records. … Along with her team-leading 26 singles wins, Briana Hartmann also led the team with 20 doubles victories, followed by Aney with 19, Valentine with 18, and Baker with 17. … Gustavus closed out 2018 60-31 in doubles play — including 26-4 in its 10 conference matches.
 
Scouting The St. Scholastica Saints:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Saturday's match against Saint Mary's is the second of five straight against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Along with their matches against Bethel and Saint Mary's, the Saints also face Gustavus, Macalester and Concordia over the next two weeks. … Brynne Hauer collected wins in both singles and doubles in the Saints' season-opening 4-3 loss to UM-Duluth last Saturday. … Both of St. Scholastica's singles victories against UM-Duluth last Saturday were three-setters — Hauer won 7-6 (2), 5-7, 10-6 at No. 5, while Sara Wennerstrand posted a 7-6, 6-7, 10-7 win at No. 2. … Hauer teamed with Syd Holt for a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles, with Katelyn Rice/Elizabeth Fink grabbing a 6-4 win at No. 2. … The Saints are coming off a 14-7 season a year ago that included both its third consecutive Upper Midwest Athletic Conference regular-season title, as well as the UMAC's post-season tournament crown. … St. Scholastica made its fourth straight NCAA Division III national tournament appearance in 2018, falling to Gustavus 6-0 in the opening round. … For the first time since 2006, the Saints do not return an All-UMAC performer this season. … Graduated senior Sarah Coryell led the Saints with 18 singles wins in 2018, with Rice and Alexia Brascugli each chipping in 10. … St. Scholastica had seven different players compete at No. 5 singles, combining for an 18-2 record. … Emma Bartels owned a team-high 14 doubles wins last season, followed by Hauer, Brascugli, and Coryell with 10 each. … St. Scholastica finished 2018 39-24 in singles play, while going 39-24 in doubles. … The Saints were picked as the favorite to repeat as regular-season conference champions, earning 47 points and five first-place votes to edge Northwestern (44 points, three first-place votes) in the 2019 UMAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
 
Scouting The Carleton Knights:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Sunday's match against Saint Mary's is the second straight road contest for the Knights, who opened the road portion of their schedule with a 9-0 win at Concordia last Saturday. … Carleton boasted four players — Madeline Prins, Yelena Hallman, Kristina Conrrad, and Taylor Thulson — who picked up wins in both singles and doubles against the Cobbers last Saturday. … Carleton dropped just 11 games in sweeping the six singles matches against Concordia. The Knights' 1-5 singles players combined to lost just five games. … Prins, Thulson, Jeanny Zhang, and Sonya Romanenko have all own a team-best two singles wins through three matches this season. … Carleton received one first-place vote and 84 total points to hold down the No. 2 in the MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. … Carleton kicked off the 2019 season ranked No. 31 in the nation and No. 7 in the Central Region. … The Knights — who closed out 2018 with a 14-5 overall record, including a 9-1 showing in conference play — have suffered just two regular-season conference losses combined in the last three years. … Carleton boasted five players — Alana Danieu (12), Madeline Prins (12), Kristina Conrad (11), and Zoe Park (10) — who collected 10 or more singles wins last season. … In doubles play, Conrad/Prins teamed for a team-leading 12 victories, two more than Danieu/Elizabeth Yim. … Conrad/Prins finished runners-up at the 2018 ITA Midwest Regional Championships and enter Sunday's showdown against Saint Mary's ranked No. 22 in the country.