WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team kicked off its Saturday with a heartbreaking 6-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss to Saint John's.
And, unfortunately, the day ended in more heartbreak for the Cardinals, as Bethany Lutheran rallied from a 2-1 deficit — and outlasted SMU in two of three, three-set singles matches — in dealing Saint Mary's a 5-4 nonconference setback at the Winona Tennis Center.
"Our gas tank ran a little low," said Saint Mary's men's tennis coach
Jeff Halberg. "The gusy were so close, they fought so hard, we just couldn't quite pull it out in the end."
The Cardinals grabbed an early lead, getting doubles wins from
E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) and Brandon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.) at No. 2 and
Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.) and
Caden Rodning (Mason City, Iowa) at No. 3 to take a 2-1 advantage into singles play.
Besek collected a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 6 singles, while the Vikings posted straight-set wins at No. 1 and No. 3 to get within 3-2 with three matches to play — all of which went to a third-set tiebreaker.
Raabolle rallied from a set down to win 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 at No. 4, but
Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) and Stene Tucker (Fridley, Minn.) weren't as fortunate, as Janssen fell 6-1, 5-7, 10-6 at No. 2 and Stene came out on the short end of a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 10-6 outcome at No. 5.
The Cardinals (4-6 overall) now head to Orlando, Fla., for four nonconference matches, beginning Monday against Calvin
