By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team returns home to the Winona Tennis Center for a pair of Saturday matches, as the Cardinals entertain St. Thomas in an 12:30 p.m. MIAC matchup, before hosting the University of Dubuque at 5 p.m.
 
The Matchups:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-1 MIAC, 3-2 Overall) vs. St. Thomas Tommies (0-0 MIAC, 1-2 Overall), 12:30 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-2 Overall) vs. University of Dubuque Spartans (0-4 Overall), 5 p.m.
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — February 7-8-9, 2020 * Green Bay, Wis./Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals went 2-1 their three-games-in-three-day stretch last weekend, rebounding from a 6-3 loss to Lawrence by beating Ripon (9-0) and UW-Superior (6-3) | Lawrence Recap * Ripon Recap * Superior Recap
• St. Thomas — February 9 * Lifetime Fitness * Lakeville, Minn.: The Tommies picked up their first win of the season, rolling to an 8-1 nonconference victory over UW-Superior | Recap
• University of Dubuque — February 9, 2020 * Dubuque, Iowa: Cornell swept all six singles matches in straight sets en route to a 9-0 victory — dealing the Spartans their third straight loss to open the 2020 season | Recap
 
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 its best performances of the season, but their best wasn't enough against the high-powered Tommies, as St. Thomas dealt Saint Mary's a 7-2 conference setback | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. University of Dubuque  — Their Last Meeting:
• April 17, 2010 * Wartburg Courts * Waverly, Iowa: The Cardinals — fueled by a pair of three-set singles wins — outlasted the University of Dubuque 7-2 in the first-ever meeting between the two programs | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in action with a pair of home matches next weekend at the Winona Tennis Center. Saint Mary's will host Macalester in a 7 p.m. conference contest on Friday, before entertaining Loras in a 3:30 p.m. contest on Sunday.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies are right back in action on Sunday, heading to Duluth, Minn., for a 1 p.m. nonconference match against St. Scholastica.
• Dubuque: After this weekend's matches against UW-Eau Claire, St. Thomas, and Saint Mary's, the Spartans return home to Dubuque, Iowa, next Saturday, hosting Lawrence (9 a.m.) and UW-La Crosse (3 p.m.).
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2020 Roster | 2020 Schedule | 2020 Statistics
• After three straight road matches, the Cardinals return home for back-to-back home contests against St. Thomas and the University of Dubuque on Saturday. The Cardinals are 2-1 on their home courts this season, and picked up five of their seven wins a year ago at the Winona Tennis Center. … Saint Mary's enters Saturday's matches riding a two-match winning streak — and have won three of their last four. … Three of Saint Mary's six matches have been 6-3 decisions, while the other three have been 9-0 sweeps. … Gabe Graves (Littleton, Colo.), Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.) and Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) picked singles wins in all three of the Cardinals' matches last weekend, with Smiley and Janssen extending their singles winning streaks to four straight in the process. … Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.), Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.), Trevor Smiley, Graves, and Janssen have all played all six singles matches at Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. … Jared Hippman (Bollingbrook, Ill.), Philip Kostecka (Pequot Lakes, Minn.), and Nolan Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.) have all played at No. 6 singles. … Janssen recorded his first collegiate singles win with a 6-0, 6-2 victory at No. 5 singles against Martin Luther on Jan. 24. … Kurilla/Trevor Smiley have played all six matches together at No. 1 doubles, going 2-4, while Graves/Sobczak have teamed to go 4-2 at No. 2 doubles, and Janssen/Nolan Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.) are 3-2 at No. 3. Hippman/Janssen own Saint Mary's other win at No. 3 doubles. … The Cardinals are 23-13 in singles play this season, while going 10-8 in doubles. … With their 2-1 showing last weekend, the Cardinals improved to 64-24 in nonconference matches since 2012. … With their season-opening win over Martin Luther, the Cardinals improved to 14-0 all-time against the Knights — including seven 9-0 wins in their last eight contests. …  The Cardinals' three doubles teams dropped just three games combined against Martin Luther last Friday. … Saint Mary's won five of the six singles matches against Martin Luther in straight sets, including a 6-0, 6-0 win over Sobczak at No. 1.
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2020 Roster | 2020 Schedule | 2020 Statistics
• After opening the season with back-to-back losses to UW-Eau Claire (8-1) and Carthage (6-3), the Tommies picked up their first win in 2020 with an 8-1 win over UW-Superior last Sunday. … Sterling Sibley is the only Tommie  with more than one singles win through three matches, going 2-1. Anshul Bharath, Noah LaTour, Jordan Schenck, Will Schneider, and Nick Vossen have accounted for St. Thomas' other five singles wins. … Schenck and Bharath are the only Tommies to have played all three matches at the same singles position — Schenck at No. 2 and Bharath at No. 3. … Schneider/Sterling Sibley own two of UST's five doubles wins — both at No. 3. … St. Thomas is 7-11 in singles play through three matches, while going 5-4 in doubles action. … The Tommies — who finished 8-8 overall a year ago, including 4-5 in MIAC play — was picked to finish fifth in the MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. …
 
Scouting The University of Dubuque Spartans:
2020 Roster | 2020 Schedule | 2020 Statistics
• The Spartans enter the weekend still searching for their first win of the season, dropping matches to Illinois Wesleyan, Coe, Doane, and Cornell — with the last three all by 9-0 decisions. … The Spartans' lone win in singles play came at No. 2, where Jose Mancilla posted a 6-7, 6-3, 10-7 victory against Illinois Wesleyan's Ryan Yoo. … Dubuque has had three different players in the lineup at Nos. 2, 4, and 5 singles, while two Spartans have seen action at No. 1 and No. 3. … UD came into the 2019-20 season on the heels of a 3-19 showing a year ago, including a 1-7 mark in American Rivers Conference play.