WINONA, Minn. — There were a pair of lofty winning streaks on the line when the Saint Mary's University and Northwestern men's tennis teams took to the courts Friday afternoon.
 
The visiting Eagles arrived at the Winona Tennis Center perfect in 2021, boasting an unblemished 11-0 overall record.
 
The host Cardinals, meanwhile, took to the courts having never lost to the Eagles, sporting a perfect 13-0 mark.
 
When the final point was decided, one of those impressive winning streaks would be no more.
 
Unfortunately for coach Jeff Halberg, it was the Cardinals' run that came to a screeching halt — in heartbreaking fashion.
 
Saint Mary's rallied from a 4-1 deficit, but came up just short, as the Eagles won the decisive final match in a super-breaker to deal the Cardinals a 5-4 nonconference setback.
 
"What a match," understated Halberg. "We knew we were going to be in for a battle, with Northwestern coming in 11-0. The guys played a tremendous match, unfortunately, we just weren't able to pull it out in the end."
 
Saint Mary's trailed 2-1 after the three doubles matches — with Gabe Graves (Littleton, Colo.) and Reilly Fredell (Colorado Springs, Colo.) teaming for an 8-5 win for the Cardinals.
 
The deficit climbed to 4-1 after the first two singles matches, before the Cardinals got to work, getting straight-set wins from Fredell and Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.), and a three-et, 3-6, 6-2, 10-1 win by Evan Huemoeller (Owatonna, Minn.) to knot the match at 4-4.
 
Graves rallied from a set down in the decisive match, but fell short in dropping a 2-6, 6-4, 4-10 decision at No. 5 singles.
 
The Cardinals (3-4 overall) are now off until April 10, when they travel to Saint John's Chang Tennis Complex in Collegeville, Minn., for a 1 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against the Johnnies.