By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PETER, Minn. — Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis coach Jeff Halberg knew his Cardinals were going to have their hands full Saturday afternoon, squaring off against nationally ranked Gustavus.
 
After all, the Gusties entered Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match a perfect 4-0 in conference play, and owners of the conference's regular-season title an unprecedented 30 straight years — not to mention being ranked No. 2 in the region and No. 15 in the country.
 
And the Cardinals gave them all they could handle.
 
In the end, however, the Gusties' depth proved to be too much, as Gustavus lived up to its national ranking with an 8-1 win over the Cardinals at the Swanson Tennis Center.
 
"We played some good tennis against a very high-level Gustavus team," said Halberg. "Our No. 1 doubles team played an exceptionally good match and I'm very pleased that they were able to come away with a win for their efforts."
 
Bobby Tiedemann (Euclid, Minn.) and Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.) teamed for an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles to get the Cardinals off and running, but Gustavus answered with 8-5 and 8-1 victories at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, respectively, and adding six straight-set singles wins to ice the win.
 
The Cardinals (0-6 MIAC, 4-8 overall) are right back in action on Sunday, returning home to the Winona Tennis Center for a 9 a.m. conference match against Concordia.