By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PETER/WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this weekend, heading to Gustavus' Swanson Tennis Center for a 10 a.m. matchup against the Gusties on Saturday, before returning home to the Winona Tennis Center for a 9 a.m. showdown against Concordia the following day.
 
The Matchups:
Saturday, March 23, 2019 * Swanson Tennis Center * St. Peter, Minn. * 10 a.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-5 MIAC, 4-7 Overall) at #15 Gustavus Gusties (4-0 MIAC, 9-4 Overall)
Sunday, March 24, 2019 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn. * 9 a.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-5 MIAC, 4-7 Overall) vs. Concordia Cobbers (0-4 MIAC, 4-8 Overall)
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—March 15, 2019 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona Minn.: St. Olaf jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the three doubles matches — including a pair of tiebreaker wins at Nos. 2 and 3 — and picked up straight-set wins in four of the six singles matches in dealing the Cardinals a 6-3 setback at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
• Gustavus—March 15-16, 2019 * Claremont, Calif.: The Gusties dropped a pair of matches to open the Stag Hen Invitational, falling to #12 Sewanee 5-4 and #18 Skidmore 6-3, before rebounding with an 8-1 win over #31 Swarthmore | Recap
• Concordia—March 16, 2019 * Courts Plus * Fargo, N.D.: The Cobbers jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles and won two of the first four singles matches, but Saint John's rattled off three straight singles victories to deal CC a 5-4 conference setback | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus — Their Last Meeting:
• February 17, 2018 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals did not have the firepower to match the high-octane Gusties, as Gustavus dealt Saint Mary's a 9-0 conference setback | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia — Their Last Meeting:
• March 18, 2018 * Courts Plus • Fargo, N.D.: The Cardinals turned in what coach Jeff Halberg termed, "one of their best performances of the season," but had nothing to show for their efforts, as the Cobbers dealt Saint Mary's a 9-0 setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals step out of conference play next weekend, hosting Crown in a 6 p.m. matchup at the Winona Tennis Center on Friday, before heading to the Pleasant Valley Tennis Center in Jackson, Wis., for an 11:30 a.m. showdown with Concordia (Wis.) on Sunday.
• Gustavus: Following their three matches on Saturday, the Gusties are off until April 2, when they kick off their five-match spring trip to California with matches against Hope International and the University of Redlands.
• Concordia: The Cobbers return to action on Friday for a pair of nonconference matches at Choice Health Fitness in Grand Forks, N.D. CC will face Augustana (S.D.) at 2:30 p.m., followed by a 6 p.m. matchup against North Dakota.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Saturday's match at Gustavus is the fifth road contest in the last five matches for the Cardinals. All four of the Cardinals' wins this season have come on their home courts — Saint Mary's is 0-5 away from the Winona Tennis Center. … Five of the Cardinals' last nine matches have been 7-2 decisions. … Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.) had a hand in two of the Cardinals' three wins in last Saturday's 6-3 loss to St. Olaf. The freshman teamed with Bobby Tiedemann (Euclid, Minn.) for an 8-3 win at No. 1 doubles, while adding a 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 4 singles. … Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.) collected Saint Mary's other win against St. Olaf, collecting a three-set victory at No. 5 singles. … With his win against Hanover on Feb. 26, Tiedemann pushed his team-leading dual-match singles wins total to six, two more than Smiley and Kurilla. … Kurilla and Smiley both recorded their first collegiate singles wins against Martin Luther on Jan. 25 — Smiley won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2 and Kurilla posted a 6-1, 1-6, 10-8 win at No. 3 — while Brandon Johnson (St. James, Minn.) notched his first singles win as a Cardinal with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 6 singles against St. Norbert on Feb. 16. … Smiley and Tiedemann share the team lead with six doubles wins each, one more than both Johnson and Graves. … As a doubles combination, Tiedemann/Smiley are 6-5, while Graves/Johnson are 4-2. … With their 7-2 loss to Hanover on Feb. 26, the Cardinals are now 58-21 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 Gustavus Gusties:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Gustavus heads into Saturday's MIAC match against Saint Mary's ranked No. 12 in the latest Oracle/ITA Division III Rankings. … All three of the Gusties' matches at last weekend's Stag-Hen Invitational in Claremont, Calif., were against nationally ranked foes — #12 Sewanee, #18 Skidmore, and #31 Swarthmore. … Gustavus' 5-4 loss to Sewanee last Friday snapped its four-match winning streak. It was the second time this season the Gusties have put together a four-match win streak. … Three of Gustavus' four losses this season have come against nationally ranked opponents, with the other coming at the hands of NCAA Division I North Dakota. … The Gusties have posted three 9-0 victories in their four conference matches this season, while winning the other 8-1. … Yassine Derbani and Chase Johnson head into Saturday's matchup against Saint Mary's leading the Gusties with eight dual-match singles wins — Derbani is a perfect 8-0 (1-0 at No. 1 and 7-0 at No. 3), while Johnson is 8-1 (all at No. 2). … As a team, the Gusties are 53-21 in singles action — including a near-perfect 23-1 in conference play. … Gustavus has not lost a match at No. 3 singles (12-0), while going 10-2 at No. 2, 9-4 at No. 5, 8-5 at No. 1, and 7-5 at Nos. 4 and 6. … Michael O'Neil owns a team-leading nine dual-match doubles wins, one more than Johnson and Patrick Whaling, and two in front of both Nick Aney and Derbani. … Johnson and Whaling have teamed to go 8-2 in dual matches this season, while owning a 19-3 overall mark — going 11-1 in tournament play. … Gustavus is 31-8 in doubles and has not lost a doubles match in its four conference contests (12-0). … Gustavus received six first-place votes and 78 points to land the No. 1 spot in the MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. … The Gusties have won an unprecedented 30 consecutive regular season conference championships and each of the last eight MIAC Tournament crowns. 
 
Scouting The Concordia Cobbers:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Last Saturday's 5-4 loss to Saint John's snapped the Cobbers' two-match winning streak. … The Cobbers have now played back-to-back matches decided by a 5-4 count — CC beat Adrian 5-4 in its final spring trip match on March 7. … The Cobbers put an end to their season-high five-match losing streak with a 7-2 victory over Regis (Mass.) on March 7. … Ben Swanson enters Sunday's showdown against Saint Mary's leading the Cobbers with eight singles wins — including victories in seven of his last eight matches. … Swanson's eight singles wins are six more than he had all of last season. … Jared Saue is second to Swanson with seven singles wins, while Tanner Lundberg has six. … Lundberg and Swanson share the team lead with eight doubles wins. The duo have teamed for an 8-4 showing through 12 matches — going 1-0 at No. 1 and 7-4 at No. 2. … Saue and Erik Porter are second on the team with seven doubles wins — all coming at No. 1, where they own a 7-4 record. … As a team, the Cobbers are 30-42 in singles play, going 8-4 at No. 3, 7-5 at No. 2, 6-6 at No. 4, and 3-9 at Nos. 1, 5, and 6. … In doubles, the Cobbers sport a 19-17 record — 8-4 at both No. 1 and No. 2, while going 3-9 at No. 3. … Sunday's match at Saint Mary's will be the first official "road" match for the Cobbers, who are 2-4 at home, while also going 2-4 in neutral-site matches.