WINONA, Minn. — Jeff Halberg predicted that if his Saint Mary's University men's tennis team put together the same type of performance they did in Friday's season-opening loss to Bethel, the Cardinals come away with a victory against Loras on Saturday.
 
How right he was.
 
The Cardinals picked up win No. 1 in impressive fashion, rolling to a 7-2 nonconference win over the Duhawks at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
But it was anything but easy.
 
"This was a solid win for the guys," said Halberg. "Loras has greatly improved since last year, and I'm very pleased with our performance."
 
Saint Mary's grabbed a 2-1 lead after the marathon doubles matches. E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) and Reilly Fredell (Colorado Springs, Colo.) posted an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles, but the other two were stretched to a tie-breaker — with Evan Huemoeller (Owatonna, Minn.) and Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) winning 8-7 (1), while Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.) and Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.) fell 8-7 (0).
 
Kurilla, Janson and Smiley all recorded straight-set singles wins, while Gabe Graves (Littleton, Colo.) and Hietala both rebounded from a set down to post 6-7 (8), 6-2, 10-5 and 4-6, 6-0, 10-3 victories, respectively.
 
The Cardinals (1-1 overall) are back in action next weekend, hosting Wartburg in a 12:30 p.m. nonconference match at the Winona Tennis Center on Saturday, before welcoming St. Olaf to the WTC on Sunday for an 11 a.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest the following day.