SAINT MARY’S

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• 2022: 0-1 MIAC * 4-4 Overall

SAINT JOHN’S JOHNNIES

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• 2022: 2-0 MIAC * 2-0 Overall

BETHANY LUTHERAN VIKINGS

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• 2022: 0-0 UMAC * 1-2 Overall

SMU v. SAINT JOHN’S:

March 10, 2021

L, 7-2 * Series History

SMU v. BETHANY LUTHERAN:

Jan. 19, 2016

W, 9-0 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S LAST ACTION

Feb. 18, 2022 * Superior * L, 9-0

Feb. 19, 2022 * Loras * L, 6-3

SAINT MARY’S UP NEXT:

Spring Trip * Orlando, FL

Feb. 28 * Calvin

March 1 * Houghton/Piedmont

March 3 * Mt. Vernon Nazarene

SAINT JOHN’S LAST ACTION:

Feb. 19, 2022 * Concordia * W, 9-0

SAINT JOHN’S UP NEXT:

Spring Trip * Orlando, FL

March 6, 2022 * Ohio Wesleyan

March 7, 2022 * Covenant

March 8, 2022 * St. Francis (IL)

March 11, 2022 * St. Thomas (FL)

BETHANY LUTH. LAST ACTION:

Feb. 12, 2022 * Gustavus * L, 9-0

BETHANY LUTH. UP NEXT:

March 19, 2022 * Cornell * Mt. Vernon, IA

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals enter this weekend’s matches against Saint John’s and Bethany Lutheran sitting at 4-4 overall, while dropping its lone conference match thus this season.

• LAST TIME OUT: Saint Mary’s dropped a pair of nonconference decisions last weekend, falling to UW-Superior 9-0 and Loras 6-3 at the Winona Tennis Center.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Saint Mary’s is 2-3 on its home court this season — beating both Northwestern (Minn.) and Martin Luther, while falling to Carleton, UW-Superior, and Loras. Saint Mary’s three matches in Green Bay, Wis., on Feb. 4-5 were the Cardinals’ first road matches of the season.

• SINGLED OUT: Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) and E.J. Hietala enter Saturday’s matches against Saint John’s and Bethany Lutheran leading the team with six dual-match singles wins each. Both Janssen and Hietala had their season-high five-match winning streaks snapped against UW-Superior on Feb. 18. Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.) sits third on the team in singles wins with four, one more than Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) and Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.). … Hietala went 3-0 in singles play at the ITA/Midwest Open last October and owns nine overall singles wins.

• CAREER FIRSTS: Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.) collected his first collegiate singles victory with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 6 against Lawrence on Feb. 5. Besek is the third Cardinal to record collegiate win No. 1, joining Tanner Tschumper (Foley, Minn.) and Raabolle — who each picked up their first collegiate singles wins at the ITA Regional/Midwest Open on Oct. 1. 

• GOING THE DISTANCE: Sixteen of the Cardinals’ 10-663 singles matches this season — including 15 singles matches at the ITA/Midwest Open on Oct. 1-2 — have gone to a third set. Saint Mary’s is 10-6 in three-set singles matches this season.

• PERFECT RUN: Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) and E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) were each perfect in SMU’s three wins over Ripon, Lawrence, and St. Norbert on Feb. 4-5, winning all three of their singles and doubles matches.

• DOUBLING UP: The doubles team of Janssen/Kurilla leads the Cardinals with five doubles wins — all at No. 1 — while Hietala/Peter Quinn (Lake Elmo, Minn.) are one back with four doubles wins at No. 2. … Besek has had a hand in the other three SMU dual-match doubles wins, going 2-3 with Raabolle and 1-1 with Caden Rodring (Mason City, Iowa). … SMU has used one doubles combination at both No. 1 and No. 2, while using three different combinations at No. 3.

• WEEKLY HONOR: Janssen collected his first collegiate MIAC Athlete of the Week honor on Feb. 7, after his perfect 6-0 showing in SMU’s wins over Ripon, Lawrence, and St. Norbert on Feb. 4-5.

• UNBEATEN: Saint Mary’s enters its match against Bethany Lutheran Saturday night unbeaten in its six previous meetings with the Vikings – dropping just two games combined in those six previous matches.

• TOTAL DOMINATION: With their 7-2 win over Martin Luther on Jan. 29, the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to 19 straight against the Knights. SMU has never lost to Martin Luther in program history.

• TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: The Cardinals’ losses to UW-Superior and Loras last weekend snapped their five-game nonconference winning streak. SMU is now 5-2 in nonconference play this season and 71-28 vs. non-MIAC foes since 2012. 

• FOR THE RECORD: The Johnnies head into Saturday’s matchup against Saint Mary’s riding back-to-back wins to open the season, beating St. Scholastica (6-3) and Concordia (9-0).

• LAST TIME OUT: Saint John’s won all six singles matches in straight sets and cruised to wins in all three doubles contests en route to a 9-0 sweep of Concordia last Saturday in Sartell, Minn.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Saint John’s 9-0 over Concordia last Saturday was its home-opener. The Johnnies, who played five of their final six matches a year ago on their home courts, picked up four of their six wins at the Saint John’s Chang Tennis Complex. 

• SINGLES LEADER: Mike Krasowski, Daniel Perez, and Mark Rosen have all posted back-to-back singles wins to open the year, while Will Deters, Payton Fischer, Will Fischer, and Ryan Will have accounted for SJU’s other four singles wins through two matches. … Peyton Fischer finished with five singles wins a year ago, while Krasowski finished the year with three.

• DOUBLING UP: Peyton Fischer/Will is the only doubles combination to play both matches this season, going 2-0. Deters/Rose, Hunter Fischer/Nolan Morrey, and Will Fischer/Joe Dwyer have all collected one doubles win.

• AS A TEAM: The Johnnies have dropped just two singles matches through their first two contests — both coming against St. Scholastica on Feb. 12 — going 10-2. SJU is a near-perfect 5-1 in doubles action, with the lone loss coming at No. 1 against St. Scholastica on Feb. 12.

• A YEAR AGO: Saint John’s is coming off a 6-5 showing in 2021, including a 4-5 mark in its nine conference matches. The Johnnies dropped four of their final six matches in 2021 — including season-ending losses to both Carleton (8-1) and Macalester (5-4).

• FOR THE RECORD: The Vikings enter Saturday’s nonconference matchup against Saint Mary’s sitting at 1-2 on the year — having opened their schedule with a 7-2 win over Wartburg, before dropping back-to-back decisions to Hamline (6-3) and Gustavus (9-0).

• LAST TIME OUT: The Vikings won just 13 singles games — including dropping a pair of 6-0, 6-0 decisions at No. 5 and No. 6 — and managed to win just four games in the three doubles matches in falling to Gustavus 9-0 last Saturday in St. Peter, Minn.

• MIAC MATCHUPS: BLC’s match against Saint Mary’s on Saturday is its third straight against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

• SINGLES LEADERS: Heitor Nevas Damasso and Carlos Franch lead the team with two singles wins in the Vikings’ first three matches of the year, while Antonio Lino Coelho, Niklas Kasa, and Caue Ribeiro own BLC’s other singles victories. … Nevas Damaso and Kasa are the only two to have played all three matches at the same position – Nevas Damaso is 2-1 at No. 3 and Kasa is 1-2 at No. 6.

• DOUBLING UP: Franch/Marcos Borobia Arias, Nevas Damaso/Kasa, and Ribeiro/Antonio Lino have accounted for Bethany Lutheran’s three doubles wins. Borobia Arias/Franch have played all three matches at No. 1, while BLC has used two different pairs at No. 2 and three different combinations at No. 3.

• AS A TEAM: Last Saturday’s loss to Gustavus was the Vikings’ second straight setback, and the first time this season they have been swept. … Bethany Lutheran is 7-11 in singles play, while going 3-6 in its nine doubles matches.

• A YEAR AGO: The Vikings closed out the 2021 season with a 1-8 overall record, including a 1-5 showing in their six UMAC contests. After opening the season with six straight losses, BLC picked up its lone win of the year, a 7-2 victory over Crown, before dropping its final two matches — including a 9-0 setback at the hands of Northwestern in the UMAC Tournament.