WINONA, MINN. – The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team closed out its regular season in thrilling fashion on Saturday, April 13. Though the team was unable to come away with a win, the Cardinals still battled in their final match against Luther College, falling to the Norse by a final score of 8-1.
 
"The guys took on a very tough Luther team today," head coach Jeff Halberg said in postgame comments. "It was a tough way to end the season, but I'm very pleased with the way the guys played and competed this year. It's just a great bunch of guys."
 
Saint Mary's lone win came at the No. 4 singles spot, as freshman Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.) took down Luther's Brook Norwood 6-4, 2-1 after Norwood was forced to retire in the second set.
 
Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.) put up a fight as the team's No. 5 singles player. After losing an early break point, the freshman rallied but fell in the opening set of his match 6-3 before losing a late break in the second set to fall 6-3, 6-4.
 
 
Senior Bobby Tiedemann (Euclid, Minn.) battled in his final match as a Cardinal but fell in straight sets at the No. 1 singles spot 6-4, 6-1. No. 2 singles player Rob Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.) fell 6-1, 6-1, while No. 3 player Alex Rudh (Hastings, Minn.) dropped his match by scores of 6-2, 6-1. No. 6 singles player Gabe Graves (Littleton, Colo.) lost his singles match by scores of 6-0, 6-2.
 
Saint Mary's played three thrilling doubles matches, nearly taking some early points away from the visiting Norse. Luther managed to come out on top in all three matches, allowing the Norse to take an early 3-0 lead over the Cardinals in the dual. The No. 1 team of Tiedemann and Kurilla and No. 3 team of Rudh and Graves fell in their matches by identical scores of 8-4, while the No. 2 team of Sobvzak and Smiley dropped their match 8-1.
 
With the loss, Saint Mary's concludes its season with an overall record of 7-11 and a 1-8 mark in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play.