ST. PETER, Minn. — Friday's opening day of the ITA Regional/Midwest Open was the first competition of the season for the Saint Mary's University men's tennis team — and the Cardinals figured they might as well play as much tennis as they possibly could.
 
Of the Cardinals' 11 singles matches during Friday's opening rounds, four were extended to a third set — including career-first victories for Tanner Tschumper (Foley, Minn.) and Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.).
 
Tschumper kicked off his collegiate career with a 6-1, 5-7, 10-7 victory over Hamline's Britton Von Ruden, while Raabolle dropped Northwestern's Eli Henderson, 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 victory.
 
Evan Huemoeller (Owatonna, Minn.) and Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) were also extended to a third set in their opening-round matches, with Huemoeller falling 7-5, 4-6, 10-7 at the ITA Regional and Stene dropping a marathon 6-1, 3-6, 12-10 decision at the Midwest Regional.
 
And the three-set matches didn't end when the first round concluded, either, as E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) — a 6-1, 6-2 winner in his first Midwest Open match of the day — delivered a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 10-8 victory over Jace Gilbertson of UW-Superior in round No. 2.
 
The winning continued for Hietala in the third round, as the junior posted a straight-set, 6-0, 6-1 win over Central-Iowa's Caleb Hammerlink to reach Saturday's fourth round.
 
Tschumper and Raabolle both had their runs ended in the second round, with Tschumper falling to Luther's Nate Withers 6-2, 6-3 and Raabolle dropping a 6-1, 6-0 decision to Luther's Ethan Beckerman
 
In other opening-round singles matches, Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.), Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) and Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.) fell in straight sets at the ITA Regional, while at the Midwest Open, Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.), Caden Rodring, and Peter Quinn (Lake Elmo, Minn.) all came up empty.
 
Smiley and Kurilla were the only pair to get their doubles match in Friday, as the Cardinal duo dropped an 8-1 decision to Carleton's Aswath Viswanathan/Tate Fuller.
 
Action continues on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. in St. Peter, Minn.
 
Day 1 Results
ITA Singles
Evan Huemoeller (Owatonna, Minn.) lost to Giacomo Lucchesi (CSS), 7-5, 4-6, 10-7
Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.) lost to Chris Miltev (Carthage), 6-0, 6-0
Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) lost to Sourabh Terakanambi (GAC), 6-2, 6-1
Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.) lost to Simon Kennel (Grinnell), 6-1, 6-0
 
Midwest Open Singles
E.J. Hietala def. Sean Le (Hamline), 6-1, 6-2
E.J. Hietala def. Jacob Gilbertson (UW-Superior), 6-7 (5), 6-1, 10-3
E.J. Hietala def. Caleb Hammerlink (Central-Iowa), 6-0, 6-1
Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.) def. Eli Henderson (Northwestern), 6-3, 4-6, 10-8
Brendon Raabolle lost to Ethan Beckerman (Luther), 6-1, 6-0
Tanner Tschumper (Foley, Minn.) def. Britton Von Ruden (Hamline), 6-1, 5-7, 10-7
Tanner Tschumper lost to Nate Withers (Luther), 6-2, 6-4
Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) lost to Josh Klement (Concordia-WI), 6-1, 3-6, 12-10
Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.) lost to Jon Kannenberg (Wisconsin Lutheran), 6-0, 6-4
Caden Rodning (Mason City, Iowa) lost to Thomas Kampmier (Loras), 6-4, 7-5
Peter Quinn (Lake Elmo, Minn.) lost to Juan Navarrete (Luther), 6-2, 6-0
 
ITA Doubles
Brandon Kurilla/Trevor Smiley lost to Aswath Viswanathan/Tate Fuller (Carleton), 8-1
Evan Huemoeller/Josh Janssen v. Lucas Huffman/Jackson Eells (Wartburg), late