By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team has a busy weekend in store with three matches in three days. The Cardinals will sandwich home MIAC matches against St. Thomas (Friday) and Gustavus (Sunday) around a nonconference match against Northwestern (Iowa) in Owatonna, Minn., on Saturday.
 
The Matchups:
Friday, February 14, 2020 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn. * 6 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0 MIAC, 3-0 Overall) vs. St. Thomas Tommies (1-0 MIAC, 3-0 Overall)
Saturday, February 15, 2020 * Owatonna Tennis Center * Owatonna, Minn. * 1 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-0 Overall) vs. Northwestern Red Raiders (2-1 Overall)
Sunday, February 16, 2020 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn. * Noon
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0 MIAC, 3-0 Overall) vs. Gustavus Gusties (0-0 MIAC, 0-0 Overall)
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — February 8, 2020 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals continued to flex their early season muscles, as the Cardinals pushed their season-opening winning streak to three with another lopsided victory — this one an 8-1 decision over UW-Superior | Recap
• St. Thomas — February 9, 2020 * Lifetime Fitness * Lakeville, Minn.: The Tommies completed a two-matches-in-one-day sweep with an 8-1 nonconference win over UW-Superior. UST kicked off the day with a conference-opening 6-3 win over Concordia | Recap
• Northwestern (Iowa) — February 1, 2020 * U of M Baseline Tennis Center * Minneapolis, Minn.: Northwestern posted a clean sweep in its nonconference match against Hamline, winning posting four straight-set singles wins and sweeping doubles in rolling to a 9-0 win over the Pipers | Recap
• Gustavus — Sunday's match against Saint Mary's is the season-opener for the Gusties.
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas  — A Year Ago:
• February 23, 2019 * U of M Baseline Tennis Center * Minneapolis, Minn.: The Cardinals put together one of their better performances of the season, but St. Thomas proved to be too much, as the Tommies dealt Saint Mary's a 9-0 conference setback | Recap
• May 1, 2019 * U of M Baseline Tennis Center * Minneapolis, Minn.: The Cardinals, making their first MIAC Tournament appearance since dropping a 5-0 decision to St. Thomas in 2017, had history repeat itself, as the Tommies once again dealt Saint Mary's a 5-0 quarterfinal setback in the 2019 MIAC Tournament | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Northwestern (Iowa)  — Their Last Meeting:
• February 20, 2015 * Winona Tennis Center * Winona, Minn.: Kirsten Hoffmann (Apple Valley, Minn.) rallied from a pair of healthy deficits in the third-set tiebreaker to record a 6-2, 4-6, 10-8 victory, and propel the Cardinals to a 5-4 win over Northwestern | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus  — A Year Ago:
• February 9, 2019 * Swanson Tennis Center * St. Peter, Minn.: The Cardinals could not penetrate the Gusties' powerful lineup in the teams' conference 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
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: After this weekend's three-match marathon, the Cardinals are back in conference action on Friday, playing host to Macalester in a 7 p.m. matchup at the Winona Tennis Center.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies return to action on Sunday, heading to Duluth, Minn., for a 1 p.m. nonconference match against St. Scholastica.
• Northwestern (Iowa): Following this weekend's matches against Bethel and Saint Mary's, the Red Raiders are off until March 13, when they travel to Pella, Iowa, for a 4 p.m. match against Central-Iowa.
• Gustavus: The Gusties are back in action next Saturday and Sunday, heading to Cedar Falls, Iowa on Saturday for a 4 p.m. nonconference match against Northern Iowa, before moving on to Des Moines, Iowa on Sunday for a 3 p.m. matchup against Drake.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2020 Roster | 2020 Schedule | 2020 Statistics
• The Cardinals head into this weekend's three matches riding a season-opening winning streak — posting wins of 9-0, 8-1, and 8-1. … With their season-opening win over Martin Luther on Jan. 25, the Cardinals have now opened the season with a 9-0 victory in five straight seasons. … Saint Mary's dropped just nine games in their five singles wins against UW-Superior last Saturday — including 6-0, 6-0 wins by both Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.) and Cassandra Barr (Eau Claire, Wis.), a 6-0, 6-2 triumph by Maggie Frye (Colorado Springs, Colo.), and a 6-0, 6-1 win by Zoie Becker (St. James, Minn.). … With their five wins against UW-Superior last Saturday, the Cardinals have now posted 16 straight-set singles wins in their 18 singles matches through three contests this season. … Lois, Barr, Becker, and Frey are all a perfect 3-0 in dual matches this season. … After recording a pair of wins at the Gustavus Fall Invitational last September, Frye and Becker each picked up their first collegiate dual-match singles wins against Martin Luther on Jan. 25. … The Cardinals are a perfect 9-0 in doubles play in their three dual matches this season — Barr/Lois are 3-0 at No. 1, Becker/Frye are 1-0 at No. 2 and 2-0 at No. 3, Kailee Johnson (Rochester, Minn.)/Kennedy Morgan (Green Bay, Wis.) are 2-0 at No. 2, and Johnson/Maddie Dosser (South St. Paul, Minn.) are 1-0 at No. 3. … Combined with their three tournament wins at the Gustavus Fall Invitational last season, Becker/Frye have won six straight doubles matches. … With their season-opening 9-0 win over Martin Luther on Jan. 25, the Cardinals are now 13-0 in their 13 meetings with Martin Luther. … With their 8-1 win over UW-Superior last Saturday, the Cardinals improved to 60-20 against nonconference opponents since 2012. … Saint Mary's made its second MIAC Tournament appearance in the last three years, falling to St. Thomas 5-0 in the quarterfinals. …
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2020 Roster | 2020 Schedule | 2020 Statistics
• The Tommies head into Friday's conference showdown at Saint Mary's riding a season-opening three-match winning streak. UST opened with a 7-2 win over UW-Stout, dropped Concordia 6-3, and topped UW-Superior 8-1. … St. Thomas boasts four players who are unbeaten in singles play this season — Sophia Dahlke, Natasha Hood, Paige McLeod, and Katie O'Connor. Hood has won all three of her singles matches at No. 3, while Dahlke is 3-0 at No. 4. They are the only Tommies to have played all three matches at the same position. … Paige McLeod leads the Tommies with three doubles wins this season — teaming with Taylor McLeod for a pair of wins at No. 1 doubles, while also joining forces with Hood for a win at No. 2 doubles. … St. Thomas is 15-3 in singles play, while going 6-3 in doubles action. … The Tommies — who do not have a senior on the roster and boast only three juniors — were picked to finish fourth in the MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. … St. Thomas has reached the MIAC Tournament semifinals in each of the last eight seasons.
 
Scouting The Northwestern Red Raiders:
2020 Roster | 2020 Schedule | 2020 Statistics
• The Red Raiders enter this weekend's nonconference matches against Bethel and Saint Mary's boasting a 2-1 overall record — sandwiching wins over Buena Vista and Hamline around a loss to NCAA Division II Minnesota State-Mankato. … Saturday's match against Saint Mary's is the third contest against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. … Annika Spirgath leads the Red Raiders with six overall wins (tournament and dual matches combined), one more than Jacque Ingram. The duo have accounted for 11 of Northwestern's 18 singles victories this season. … Ingram and Zoe Holscher have teamed up for three doubles wins to lead the Red Raiders, followed by Spirgath/Emma Van Drie and Jessica Wilson/Abby Petrick with two each.
 
Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2020 Roster | 2020 Schedule | 2020 Statistics
• Gustavus enters Sunday's opener against Saint Mary's on the heels of a 19-12 season in 2019 — including a 9-1 showing in conference play. … GAC dropped a 5-3 decision to Bethel in the MIAC Tournament semifinals last season. … The Gusties will begin 2020 as the No. 37-ranked team in the nation and hold the No. 10 spot in the ITA Central Region Rankings. Gustavus has advanced to at least the semifinal round of the MIAC Playoffs every year since its current format was established in 2007. … Ginger Valentine closed out 2019 as the Gusties leader in singles wins with 18, one more than both Lilly Hartman and Bri Hartman, and two in front of Simona Potockova. … Gustavus used 22 different singles players in its 31 dual matches a year ago. … The Gusties closed out 2019 119-66 in singles play — 20-10 at No. 1, 20-11 at No. 2, 17-14 at No. 3, 20-11 at No. 4, 24-7 at No. 5, and 18-13 at No. 6. … Gustauvs had six players recorded 10 or more doubles wins in dual matches last season — led by Lilly Hartman and Bri Hartmann with 17 each. Valentine chipped in 16 doubles wins, followed by Potockova and Hannah Borgh with 14. … The Gusties — who used 30 different doubles combinations in 2019 — finished 59-34 in doubles play. The Gusties were 19-12 at No. 1, 18-13 at No. 2, and 22-9 at No. 3.