By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's tennis team kicks off a busy conference weekend, hosting Hamline on Friday in a 5 p.m. MIAC matchup at the Winona Tennis Center. The Cardinals will then head to Saint John's Chang Tennis Complex in Collegeville, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference showdown with the Johnnies on Sunday.
 
The Matchups:
Friday, April 5, 2019 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn. * 5 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-7 MIAC, 5-10 Overall) vs. Hamline Pipers (0-3 MIAC, 7-7 Overall)
Sunday, April 7, 2019 * Chang Tennis Complex * Collegeville, Minn. * 1 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-7 MIAC, 5-10 Overall) at Saint John's Johnnies (1-2 MIAC, 4-7 Overall)
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—March 30-31, 2019 * Winona Tennis Center/Pleasant Valley Tennis Center * Winona, Minn./Jackson, Wis.: The Cardinals spit their two nonconference matches last weekend, rolling to a 9-0 win over Crown, before dropping a heartbreak 5-4 decision to Concordia (Wis.) | Crown Recap * CUW Recap
• Hamline—March 23, 2019 * U of M Baseline Tennis Center * Minneapolis, Minn.: Tou Ger Xiong picked up wins in both singles in doubles in both of Hamline's matches, as the Pipers picked up a pair of 8-1 nonconference victories, dropping both Wartburg and Northwestern (Minn.) | Recap
• Saint John's—March 31, 2019 * Sta-Fit Tennis Center * Sartell, Minn.: The Johnnies grabbed the early lead, winning two of the three doubles matches, but Macalester stormed back by taking four of the six singles contests to earn the 5-4 conference win | 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
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint John's — Their Last Meeting:
• March 23, 2018 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn.: The Johnnies got off to a quick start, sweeping through the doubles portion of their conference match against Saint Mary's. And once the Johnnies got rolling there was no stopping them, as SJU dealt the Cardinals a 9-0 setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals step out of conference play on Wednesday, heading to Superior, Wis., for a 3 p.m. nonconference match against UW-Superior.
• Hamline: The Pipers finally kick off the home portion of their schedule on Saturday, entertaining Macalester in an 11 a.m. conference match at the Holt Courts in St. Paul, Min.
• Saint John's: The Johnnies are back in action with a pair of home matches next weekend at the Chang Tennis Complex, hosting St. Olaf in a 10:30 a.m. match on Saturday, before entertaining St. Thomas in a 2 p.m. showdown the following day.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Friday's conference showdown against Hamline is the third home match in the last four contests for the Cardinals, who have picked up four of their five wins this season on their home courts at the Winona Tennis Center. … Saint Mary's 5-4 loss to Concordia (Wis.) last Sunday was its third match decided by a 5-4 decision this season — the Cardinals lost to Concordia-Moorhead 5-4 on March 24 and beat Wartburg 5-4 on Feb. 16. … Saint Mary's last two Sunday matches have been 5-4 losses — both to a team named Concordia (Concordia-Moorhead and Concordia-Wis.). … Five of the Cardinals' 15 matches have been 7-2 decisions. … The Cardinals dropped just seven games in rolling to their 9-0 win over Crown last Friday. … Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.) and Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.) picked up singles wins in both matches last weekend — Sobczak's at No. 3 and Smiley's at No. 4 — as the two extended their winning streaks to three straight. … Smiley also earned wins in both of his No. 1 doubles matches with Bobby Tiedemann last weekend, winning 8-1 against Crown and 8-6 against Concordia (Wis.). … With his win against Crown last Friday, Tiedemann pushed his team-leading dual-match singles wins total to eight, one more than Smiley. … Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.) 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. … Smiley and Tiedemann share the team lead with nine doubles wins each, two more than Graves. … As a doubles combination, Tiedemann/Smiley are 9-6 — all at No. 1 — while Graves/Brandon Johnson (St. James, Minn.) are 5-2. … With their win over Crown and loss to Concordia (Wis.) last weekend, the Cardinals are now 59-22 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 Hamline Pipers:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• With their 8-1 wins over both Wartburg and Northwestern (Minn.) on March 23, the Pipers head into their conference showdown against Saint Mary's having won four of their last five matches. … The Pipers' victories against Wartburg and Northwestern (Minn.) on March 23 pushed their win total for the season to seven — one shy of last year's total. … Elias Ramirez enters Friday's match against Saint Mary's owning a team-leading 12 singles wins, one more than Jake Trondson. … Fueled by Trondson and Ramirez — who are 11-2 at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively — the Pipers are 12-2 at the top two singles spots and are 45-36 overall in singles play. … Trondson enters HU's match against Saint Mary's riding a five-match winning streak, while Ramirez has won two straight and eight of his last 10. … Hamline boasts two players — Tou Ger Xiong (11) and Trondson (10) — with 10 or more doubles wins, while Ramirez is third with nine. … Trondson/Ger Xiong have teamed to go 7-1 at No. 1 doubles — including wins in each of their last six matches. … Ger Xiong and Ramirez have each played with four different doubles partners through 14 matches this season.
 
Scouting The Saint John's Johnnies:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Sunday's match against Saint Mary's is the second of five straight home matches for the Johnnies, who played eight of their first 11 matches on the road. … Saint John's 5-4 loss to Macalester last Saturday was its second straight setback. It was also the Johnnies' third match decided by a 5-4 decision — SJU beat Concordia 5-4 on March 16, while falling to St. Francis (Ill.) 5-4 on March 7. … Thomas Gillach has recorded a team-leading six singles wins, one more than Jonah Punnoose, and two in front of Jarod Swoboda and Jess Hansen. … SJU has used more than one player at all six singles positions this year' including five different players at No. 6, and four at No. 4 and No. 6. … As a team, SJU is 28-38 in singles play — going 6-5 at No. 3; 5-6 at Nos. 1, 2, and 4; 4-7 at No. 6; and 3-8 at No. 5. … Thomas Gillach leads the Johnnies with seven doubles wins, followed by Punnoose with six, and Ryan Meger and Nate Jordre with five each. … Gillach and Jordre are unbeaten as a doubles pair, going 5-0 at No. 1.SJU has used five different doubles combinations at No. 3, and three different pairs at No. 2. … Saint Jon's heads into the weekend 18-15 in doubles competition.