By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this weekend, as the Cardinals head to Lifetime Fitness in White Bear Lake, Minn., for a 6:30 p.m. showdown against Macalester on Friday, before returning home to the Winona Tennis Center for an 11 a.m. matchup against Hamline on Sunday
 
The Matchups:
Friday, March 8, 2019 * Lifetime Fitness, White Bear Lake, Minn. * 6:30 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-3 MIAC, 4-5 Overall) at Macalester Scots (1-0 MIAC, 6-0 Overall)
Sunday, March 10, 2019 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn. * 11 a.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-3 MIAC, 4-5 Overall) vs. Hamline Pipers (0-3 MIAC, 3-4 Overall)
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—February 26, 2019 * Orlando, Fla.: Bobby Tiedemann (Euclid, Minn.) picked up wins at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles, but that would not be enough, as the Cardinals dropped a 7-2 nonconference decision to Hanover at the U.S. National Tennis Center | Recap
• Macalester—March 1, 2019 * White Bear Lake, Minn.: Macalester kept its unbeaten streak alive, as the Scots won their sixth straight, downing Concordia 6-3 in the teams' conference-open at Lifetime Fitness | Recap
• Hamline—March 3, 2019 * Minneapolis, Minn.: The Pipers dropped their second straight match, suffering a 9-0 conference setback against Gustavus at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Macalester — Their Last Meeting:
• February 17, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's gave Macalester all it could handle, but the Scots' depth just proved to be too much, as the Cardinals dropped a 7-2 MIAC decision at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Hamline — Their Last Meeting:
• April 21, 2019 * Minneapolis, Minn.: Deadlocked at 4-4, Brett Giesen (Cato, Wis.) — one of five seniors taking the court as Cardinals for the final time — made quick work of Hamline's Christopher Bale, posting a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles to propel Saint Mary's to a 5-4 victory at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: Following this weekend's two conference matches, the Cardinals return to the Winona Tennis Center on Friday, hosting St. Olaf in a 6 p.m. conference matchup.
• Macalester: The Scots are right back in action on Saturday, heading to Gustavus' Swanson Tennis Center in St. Peter, Minn., for a pair of matches against Gustavus (9:30 a.m.) and Luther (1:30 p.m.).
• Hamline: The Pipers are now off until March 17, when they head to Orlando, Fla., for spring trip matches against Stevens Institute of Technology and Concordia (Wis.).
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Friday's match against Macalester is the fourth straight road match for the Cardinals, who played five of their first six contests on their home courts this season. … The Cardinals' loss to Hanover on Feb. 26 was its fifth 7-2 decision in their last seven matches. … Bobby Tiedemann (Euclid, Minn.) had a hand in both of the Cardinals' wins against Hanover on Feb. 26, winning 3-6, 6-4, 10-1 at No. 1 singles, and teaming with Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.) for an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles. … With his win against Hanover on Feb. 26, Tiedemann pushed his team-leading dual-match singles wins total to six, three more than Gabe Graves (Columbine, Colo.), Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.), and Smiley. … 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. … Tiedemann, Smiley, Graves and Johnson all share the team lead with five doubles wins each. … As a doubles combination, Tiedemann/Smiley are 5-4, 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 Macalester Scots:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• With their win over Concordia last Friday, the Scots pushed their season-opening winning streak to six straight. … Macalester has won by counts of 6-3 and 7-2 twice each, while adding one 9-0 sweep and a 5-4 victory over St. Scholastica. … The Scots head into Friday's conference showdown against Saint Mary's boasting a 29-6 record in singles action. … Sam Hochberger, Ben White, Peter Willenborg, and Matthew Yang all lead the Scots with unblemished 4-0 singles records, while Jeffrey Jorgensen has chipped in three singles wins. … The Scots are unbeaten at Nos. 1 and 4 singles (6-0), while going 5-1 at Nos. 2 and 5, 4-1 at No. 6 and 4-4 at No. 3. … Macalester has gone just 9-8 in doubles action through six matches and has used 11 different doubles combinations. … Jorgensen, Alexander Poland, and George Steinke lead the Scots with two doubles wins each. … As a team, Macalester is 5-1 at No. 3 doubles, 3-3 at No. 2 and 2-4 at No. 1. … Macalester is 1-0 on its home courts this season, while going 5-0 on the road — including 4-0 in neutral-site matches.
 
Scouting The Hamline Pipers:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• The Pipers enter Sunday's match against Saint Mary's looking for their first conference win of the season, while also trying to snap their second two-match losing streak of the season. … All three of Hamline's wins this season have been sweeps — HU beat St. Ambrose 6-0, while adding 9-0 victories over Martin Luther and Crown. On the flip side, two of the Pipers' four losses have been 5-4 nail-biters — one against St. Olaf and the other vs. St. Thomas. Hamline has also dropped a 6-3 decision to UW-Eau Claire and fell 9-0 to Gustavus. … Elia Ramirez owns a team-high six singles wins, one more than Jake Trondson. … Five of Ramirez's team-leading six singles matches have come at No. 2, where he is 5-1. Trondson, meanwhile, has collected all five of his singles victories at No. 1. … The Pipers, who are 22-18 in singles play this season, are 6-1 at both No. 1 and No. 2 singles, while going 3-3 at No. 5, 3-4 at No. 3, and 2-4 at No. 4 and No. 7. … Trondson, Ramirez, Nazeer Robinson, and Tou Ger Xiong all share the team lead with five doubles wins. … The Pipers, 13-8 in doubles play this season, own a 5-2 record at No. 1, while going 4-3 at Nos. 2 and 3. … Hamline has yet to play a home match this season. HU is 0-2 on the road and 3-2 in neutral-site matches.