By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team entered Sunday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against Concordia at the Winona Tennis Center riding a wave of positive momentum.
 
And the Cardinals weren't about to let the Cobbers slow them down.
 
Saint Mary's made quick work of the Cobbers, dropping just six games in the three doubles matches and adding six straight-set singles wins in blanking Concordia 9-0 for their fifth straight victory.
 
"The ladies put together a very strong performance," said Saint Mary's coach Jeff Halberg. "We have worked very hard on all aspects of our game, so we can play with confidence and build leads — and we certainly did that today.
 
"It was a well-played match from top to bottom."
 
The Cardinals raced out to a commanding 3-0 lead in doubles, getting an 8-3 win over Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.)/Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.) at No. 1, while Cassandra Barr (Eau Claire, Wis.)/Kennedy Morgan (Green Bay, Wis.) chipped in an 8-2 win at No. 2 and Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.)/Ashley Frederickson (St. James, Minn.) added an 8-1 victory at No. 3.
 
It was more of the same in singles, as the Cardinals collected six straight-wet wins — including a 6-0, 6-0 win from Boeve at No. 4 and a 6-0, 6-2 victory by Sonday at No. 1. All told, the Cardinals lost just 14 games in the 12 singles sets.
 
The Cardinals (4-3 MIAC, 7-5 overall) step out of conference play for three matches next weekend. Saint Mary's will host Crown in a 6 p.m. contest at the Winona Tennis Center on Friday, before hitting the road for matches at St. Norbert at the Four Seasons Tennis Club in Green Bay, Wis., on Saturday and against Concordia (Wis.) at the Pleasant Valley Tennis Center in Jackson, Wis., the following day.