By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — For the second straight season, the Saint Mary's University men's track and field team took the court against Macalester with the Scots sporting a perfect record.
 
And, unfortunately, for the second straight year, the Cardinals could not put the first dent in the Scots' armor.
 
Macalester flexed its muscles against the Cardinals, outlasting Saint Mary's in three hard-fought doubles matches, before adding six straight-set singles wins in a 9-0 conference win Friday evening at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
"The guys got beat by a very tough Macalester squad," said Saint Mary's coach Jeff Halberg. "We gave them a battle, but they were just too deep."
 
The Cardinals truly did give the Scots a battle through the three doubles matches, but the Scots escaped with 8-3, 8-6, and 8-4 wins to grab a commanding 3-0 lead heading into singles play.
 
And as good as Macalester was in doubles, the Scots were even better in singles — taking all six contests without dropping a set. Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.) was the only Cardinal to win five or more games against the high-powered Scots, falling 7-5, 6-3 at No. 3.
 
The Cardinals (0-3 MIAC, 5-4 overall) return to the Winona Tennis Center on Sunday, playing host to Loras in a 3:30 p.m. nonconference match.