By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team entered Friday's conference-opening match against St. Thomas riding having — having cruised to three straight victories to kick off the season.
 
Unfortunately, the Cardinals' drive for a fourth straight win hit a speed bump in the form of St. Thomas — and four singles tiebreakers.
 
Saint Mary's jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the three doubles matches, but St. Thomas answered by winning five of the six singles matches — including four that stretched to a third-set tiebreaker — as the Tommies edged the Cardinals 5-4 at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
"We lost a heartbreaker tonight," said Saint Mary's coach Jeff Halberg. "We played absolutely wonderful tennis and the ladies gave everything they had — we just couldn't get a tiebreaker to go our way.
 
"Give St. Thomas credit for never giving in," Halberg added. "This was a fantastic tennis match."
 
The Cardinals were unstoppable in doubles action, as Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.)/Cassandra Barr (Eau Claire, Wis.), Kennedy Morgan (Green Bay, Wis.)/Kailee Johnson (Rochester, Minn.), and Maggie Frye (Colorado Springs, Colo.)/Zoie Becker (St. James, Minn.) posted 8-7 (3), 8-3, and 8-0 victories, respectively, to give Saint Mary's the early 3-0 advantage heading into singles action.
 
Becker picked up her fourth straight singles win at No. 6 to account for the Cardinals' lone singles win, with Lois, Frye and Johnson all falling in three sets, and Barr and Morgan suffering straight-set setbacks.
 
The Cardinals (0-1 MIAC, 3-1 overall) are right back in action on Saturday, as they head to the Owatonna Indoor Tennis Center in Owatonna, Minn., for a 1 p.m. nonconference match against Northwestern (Iowa).