WINONA, Minn. — After playing back-to-back-to-back matches on March 19-20-21, the schedule makers gave the Saint Mary's University women's tennis team a much-needed reprieve.
 
Twelve days after that three-match marathon, Saint Mary's returned to the courts on Friday for a nonconference match against Northwestern.
 
"The ladies were in dominating form today," said Saint Mary's coach Jeff Halberg. "It was a strong performance top-to-bottom heading into the Easter break."
 
And the well-rested Cardinals were no match for the visiting Eagles, as Saint Mary's dominated from start-to-finish in rolling to an 8-1 nonconference win at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
Saint Mary's, showing no signs of rust from the 12-day layoff, breezed to three wins in the doubles portion — getting an 8-2 win over Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.)/Natalie Peterson (St. Cloud, Minn.), an 8-5 victory by Morgan Kennedy ()/Kailee Johnson (Rochester, Minn.), and an 8-1 victory by Maggie Frye ()/Maddie Dosser — for a quick 3-0 advantage.
 
And the Cardinals were equally dominated in singles play, as Lois, Peterson, Frye, Morgan, and Zoie Becker (St. James, Minn.) all rolled to straight-set wins.
 
The Cardinals (5-4 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on April 10, heading to St. Joseph, Minn., for an 11 a.m. match against Saint Benedict.