By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team kicks off MIAC Tournament play on Wednesday, as the fifth-seeded Cardinals travel to the U of M Baseline Tennis Center for a 3:30 p.m. showdown against fourth-seeded St. Thomas.
 
The Tournament Schedule:
Quarterfinals | Wednesday, May 1, 2019 | 3:30 p.m.
• No. 6 St. Olaf (4-6 MIAC, 7-7 Overall) at No. 3 Bethel (8-2 MIAC, 18-4 Overall)
• No. 5 Saint Mary's (6-4 MIAC, 14-6 Overall) at No. 4 St. Thomas (7-3 MIAC, 11-4 Overall)
Semifinals | Friday, May 3, 2019 | 3:30 p.m. |
• No. 4/5/6 at No. 1 Carleton (10-0 MIAC, 16-2 Overall)
• No. 3/4/5 at No. 2 Gustavus (9-1 MIAC, 19-11 Overall)
Championship | Sunday, May 5, 2019 | 1:00 p.m. |
• Lowest remaining seed at Highest remaining seed
 
MIAC Tournament Links:
• Tournament Homepage |
 
How The Cardinals Got Here:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals locked down their second MIAC Tournament appearance in the last three years, finishing fifth in the regular-season conference standings — Saint Mary's highest finish since ending the year fifth in 2008.
 
Saint Mary's vs. MIAC Tournament Field — Earlier This Year:
• vs. No. 1 Carleton—April 12, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's saw its program-record 11-match winning streak coming to a screeching halt, as MIAC regular-season champion Carleton dealt the Cardinals an 8-1 setback at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
• vs. No. 2 Gustavus—February 9, 2019 * St. Peter, Minn.: The Cardinals could not penetrate the Gusties' powerful lineup in the teams' MIAC match, as the Gusties picked up straight-set wins in five of the six singles matches, while dropping just seven games in taking all three doubles matches in a 9-0 GAC victory | Recap
• vs. No. 3 Bethel—February 22, 2019 * Minneapolis, Minn.: The Royals dropped just two games in the three doubles matches and won all six singles contests in straight sets in dealing Saint Mary's a 9-0 conference setback at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center | Recap
• vs. No. 4 St. Thomas—February 23, 2019 * Minneapolis, Minn.: Despite putting together what coach Jeff Halberg called "one of their better performances of the season," St. Thomas proved to be too much, as the Tommies dealt Saint Mary's a 9-0 MIAC setback at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center | Recap
• vs. No. 6 St. Olaf—March 15, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals — who got a straight-set win from Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.) to break a 4-4 tie and lead Saint Mary's to a 5-4 win over the Oles a year ago — picked up wins in five of the six singles matches, including a pair of three-setters, in cruising to a 7-2 conference victory over the Oles at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's at MIAC Tournament — Their Last Appearance:
• May 3, 2017 * U of M Baseline Tennis Center * Minneapolis, Minn.: Saint Mary's coach Jeff Halberg knew the key to the Cardinals' tournament opener against St. Thomas was getting off to a quick start. And a quick start is what Halberg witnessed. Unfortunately for the Saint Mary's head coach, it was the third-seeded Tommies who raced to a quick lead — and never looked back in ousting the sixth-seeded Cardinals 5-0 | Recap
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• The Cardinals head into post-season play having won 12 of their last 13 matches — including a program-record 11-match winning streak, which was halted with an 8-1 loss to Carleton on April 12. … With their regular season-ending 6-3 win over Luther, the Cardinals picked up their 14th win of the season — one shy of the program-record 15 set during the 2008 season. … Five of the Cardinals' 11 wins during their program-record 11-match winning streak were been 9-0 decisions, while five others were 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 post-season play having won 12 of her last 13 singles matches, owns 61 career singles victories. … Boeve leads the team with 15 dual-match singles wins, one more than Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.), while Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.) and Madyson Schreiber (Edwardsville, Ill.) are tied for third with 12. … Sonday, who had her season-high eight-match winning streak snapped against Hamline on April 5, is second to Boeve in all-time career singles victories with 58. … Sonday enters her final MIAC Tournament having played 79 consecutive matches at No. 1 singles. … Schreiber — who picked up regular season-ending wins over both Carleton and Luther on April 12-13, enters post-season play riding an eight-match winning streak. … Saint Mary's had a pair of lengthy singles winnings streaks snapped against Carleton on April 12. Boeve dropped a straight-set match at No. 4, ending her career-high 11-match win streak, while Lois had her career-best nine-match run stopped with a straight-set loss at No. 2. … 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 Boeve. … Sonday and Lois — who went 15-4 as a doubles pair a year ago — have teamed up to go 11-7 as a doubles team this season, with all 18 matches coming at No. 1. … The Cardinals closed out the regular season with a near-perfect 8-1 record on their home courts at the Winona Tennis Center — the lone loss, an 8-1 setback to Carleton in the final regular-season MIAC match of the year on April 12. … Saint Mary's closed out the regular-season with a 6-3, nonconference win over Luther — the first win over the Norse in program history. … With their 9-0 win over UW-River Falls on April 6, 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. … With their 8-2 showing this season, the Cardinals are now 57-20 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 St. Thomas Tommies:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• After winning 11 of their first 13 matches — including posting a season-opening eight-match winning streak — the Tommies enter post-season play on the heels of back-to-back losses to playoff-bound Bethel (5-4) and Carleton (7-2). … St. Thomas heads into its home tournament-opener owning a 4-1 record on its home courts, while going 7-3 away from the U of M Baseline Tennis Center. … Taylor McLeod has amassed a team-leading 10 singles wins — going 5-2 at No. 1 and 5-2 at No. 2. … Brooke Hapuku, Natasha Hood, Taylor Jackson, and Catherine Lindsay are all second to McLeod with eight singles victories this season. … Sarah Benoy has not lost a singles match this season (5-0), while Taylor Jackson enters post-season play riding a four-match singles winning streak. … St. Thomas boasts four players — Jackson (13), Paige McLeod (11), Taylor McLeod (11), and Olivia Paradise (10) — with 10 or more doubles wins this season. … The McLeod sisters have teamed to go 11-3 as a doubles pair — including a 10-3 mark at No. 1. … Jackson/Paradise, meanwhile, are 10-1 when teamed together, and have not lost a match at No. 2 doubles (10-0). … As a team, St. Thomas is 63-21 in singles play — 12-2 at No. 6,, 11-3 at Nos. 3 and 5, 10-4 at Nos. 2 and 4, and 9-5 at No. 1. In doubles, St. Thomas owns a 35-7 record — winning all 14 matches at No. 2, while going 11-3 at No. 3 and 10-4 at No. 1.