By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — After so many close calls after the last few weeks, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis team finally put it all together Friday evening.
 
The Cardinals took the lead early — winning two of the three doubles matches — and never lost the momentum, claiming four, straight-set singles wins to post a 6-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Hamline at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
"The guys played an exceptional match — against a very good Hamline squad," said Saint Mary's coach Jeff Halberg. "We knew we were in for a fight from start to finish, and everyone was up to the challenge.
 
"It was a great, great win tonight."
 
Bobby Tiedemann (Euclid, Minn.) and Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.) picked up an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles and Robbie Sobczak and Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.) added an 8-1 victory at No. 2 to give Saint Mary's the 2-1 lead heading into the singles portion of the conference matchup.
 
And once the Cardinals got rolling, there was no slowing them down.
 
Sobczak, Smiley, and Kurilla followed up their doubles wins with straight-set singles victories, and Gabe Graves (Columbine, Colo.) chipped in a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 6 to complete the Cardinal win.
 
Saint Mary's (1-7 MIAC, 6-10 overall) is back in conference play on Sunday, heading to Saint John's Chang Tennis Complex in Collegeville, Minn., for a 1 p.m. showdown with the Johnnies.