By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team closes out the regular-season portion of its schedule with a pair of home matches this weekend at the Winona Tennis Center. The Cardinals entertain nationally ranked Carleton in a 6:30 p.m. conference showdown on Friday, before hosting Luther in a 12:30 p.m. nonconference matchup the following afternoon.
 
The Matchups:
Friday, April 12, 2019 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn. * 6:30 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-3 MIAC, 13-5 Overall) vs. #32 Carleton Knights (5-0 MIAC, 11-2 Overall)
Saturday, April 13, 2019 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn. * 12:30 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (13-5 Overall) vs. Luther Norse (12-7 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 5-7, 2019 * Winona, Minn./River Falls, Wis./Sartell, Minn.: The Cardinals pushed their program-record winning streak to 11 straight last weekend, sandwiching 6-3 conference wins over Hamline and Saint Benedict around a 9-0 nonconference sweep of UW-River Falls | HU Recap * UWRF Recap * CSB Recap
• Carleton—April 9, 2019 * St. Olaf Courts • Northfield, Minn.: The Knights remained unbeaten in conference play, as they cruised to a 9-0 MIAC victory over cross-town rival St. Olaf | Recap
• Luther—April 7, 2019 * Grinnell, Iowa: The Norse locked up their 12^th win of the season, jumping out to a 2-1 lead after doubles and maintaining that advantage with three singles wins en route to a 5-4 victory | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Carleton — Their Last Meeting:
• April 21, 2018 * Lifetime Fitness * Lakeville, Minn.: Saint Mary's coach Jeff Halberg knew his Cardinals were up against a formidable opponent to open MIAC play. After all, the Cardinals' conference-opening foe — Carleton — was picked by the league's coaches to take home the regular-season title, after recording a perfect MIAC run last season. And, unfortunately for Halberg and the Cardinals, the Knights did not disappoint, sweeping all six singles matches in straight sets in dealing Saint Mary's an 8-1 setback | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Luther — Their Last Meeting:
• March 15, 2009 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn.: Rebecca Snyder (Eden Prairie, Minn.) picked up the Cardinals' lone win — a three-set marathon at No. 2 singles — as Luther dealt the Cardinals an 8-1 nonconference setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: This weekend's matches against Carleton and Luther are the final matches of the regular season for the Cardinals — who have already qualified for the MIAC Tournament, but must now wait to see who they will face in the opening round.
• Carleton: The Knights return home to the Pat Lamb Courts in Northfield, Minn., on Sunday, entertaining Bethel in a 2 p.m. conference match.
• Luther: The Norse return home to Decorah, Iowa, on Friday, closing out the home portion of their schedule with a nonconference match against UW-Superior.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• This weekend's matches against Carleton and Luther are the final home matches for Cardinal seniors Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.), Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.), and Marissa Kinzer (Aitkin, Minn.). … After starting the season 2-5 — including conference losses to Gustavus and Bethel — the Cardinals have rattled off a program-program record 11 consecutive wins. … With their 6-3 win over Saint Benedict last Sunday, the Cardinals assured themselves of no-less than a fifth-place finish in the conference's regular-season standings — earning their their second MIAC Tournament appearance in the last three years. … Five of the Cardinals' 11 wins during their current winning streak have been 9-0 decisions, while five others have been 6-3 triumphs — the other win was a 7-2 victory over St. Olaf. … Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.) became the program's all-time singles wins leader with a straight-set, 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 4 singles against Hamline on April 5. Boeve, who enters the weekend having won 11 straight matches, owns 60 career singles victories. … In her last nine singles matches, Boeve has lost a combined 15 games. … Boeve leads the team with 14 dual-match singles wins, one more than Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.), while Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.) is third with 12. … Sonday, who had her season-high eight-match winning streak snapped against Hamline on April 5, is tied for second all-time with 57 career singles victories. … Sonday enters the weekend having played 77 consecutive matches at No. 1 singles. … Lois extended her singles winning streak to a season- and career-high nine straight with a thrilling, 6-2, 4-6, 12-10 win at No. 3 against Saint Benedict last Sunday. … Lois has recorded three, 6-0, 6-0 wins during her current nine-match run. … Madyson Schreiber (Edwardsville, Ill.) also enters the weekend riding a long winning streak, having won six straight and nine of her last 10 … Kennedy Morgan's (Green Bay, Wis.) win at No. 5 singles against Northwestern on Feb. 1 was her first collegiate singles victory. She became the third Cardinal to pick up collegiate win No. 1 this season, joining Kailee Johnson (Rochester, Minn.) and Schreiber, who notched their first singles wins against Martin Luther on Jan. 25. … Sonday leads the team with 12 dual-match doubles wins, one more than Lois, and two up on Boeve. … Sonday and Lois — who went 15-4 as a doubles pair a year ago — have teamed up to go 11-5 as a doubles team this season, with all 16 matches coming at No. 1. … The Cardinals head into their matches against Carleton and Luther boasting a perfect 7-0 record on their home courts at the Winona Tennis Center. … With their 9-0 win over UW-River Falls last Saturday, the Cardinals improved to 17-0 all-time vs. the Falcons. … The Cardinals dropped just one game in their 9-0 win over Crown on March 29 — Saint Mary's posted three 8-0 doubles wins, and five 6-0, 6-0 singles victories. … Fueled by their 9-0 victory over UW-River Falls last Saturday, the Cardinals are now 56-20 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 Carleton Knights:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Carleton — last season's regular-season conference runner-up — enters Friday's match against Saint Mary's having lost just two regular-season conference matches in the last four years, including a perfect 5-0 MIAC record thus far this season. … With their 9-0 win over St. Olaf on Tuesday, the Knights have know won their last three matches by a combined 26-1 score. … After opening the season 1-1, the Knights rattled off seven straight victories, before suffering their second setback of the season — a 5-4 setback to DePauw on March 28. Since that loss, Carleton has won three straight. … The Knights boast three individuals — Madeline Prins (12), Sonya Romanenko (11), and Jeanny Zhang (10) — who have recorded 10 or more dual-match singles wins this season. … Ten of Romanenko's 11 singles wins have come at No. 1, where she boasts a 10-1 record. … As a team, Carleton is 61-16 in singles play — including a near-perfect 29-1 in MIAC matches. The Knights are 12-1 at No. 3 singles, while going 11-2 at Nos. 1, 4, and 6; 10-3 at No. 2, and 7-6 at No. 5. … The doubles team of Kristina Conrad/Madelin Prins has combined to post a team-leading nine wins — all at No. 1, where they boast a 9-3 record. … Carleton is 30-9 in doubles play as a team — going 10-3 at all three positions — and is 14-1 in conference doubles action.
 
Scouting The Luther Norse:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Saturday's match against Saint Mary's is the final regular-season road match for the Norse, who close out the regular-season with a home contest against UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday. … Luther's 5-4 win over Grinnell last Sunday snapped their two-match losing streak. … Shelby Cook and Britta Pressler enter Luther's showdown against Saint Mary's leading the team with 12 dual-match singles wins. Seven of Pressler's wins have come in UMAC play, where she is a perfect 7-0, while Devon Bourget is 6-1 in conference action. … Luther is 64-50 in singles play — including 39-9 in UMAC matches. The Norse are 14-5 at No. 2, 11-8 at No. 2 and No. 4, 10-9 at No. 6, and 9-10 at No. 1 and No. 5. … Bourget and Kelsey Kruse have teamed to post a team-high 12 dual-match doubles wins, all at No. 2, while Pressler and Shelby Cook have combined to win 11 matches, all at No. 1. … Luther is 37-20 in doubles play — 15-4 at No. 2, 12-7 at No. 1, and 10-9 at No. 3. … The Norse have won four of their six home matches this season, while going 4-2 on the road, and 4-3 in neutral-site matches.