ORLANDO, Fla. — Saint Mary's University men's tennis coach Jeff Halberg praised his Cardinals for their effort in their first-ever meeting against Calvin Monday afternoon — he only wished his squad could have been rewarded for their efforts.
 
Calvin picked up wins in two of the three doubles matches, and added four straight-set singles wins in dealing Saint Mary's a 6-3 nonconference setback at the USTA National Campus.
 
"It was a fantastic match — the guys played exceptionally well," said Halberg. "We had our chances, the guys could have easily won a couple of the matches they lost, and that was really the difference.
 
"I was very pleased with the effort — top-to-bottom."
 
Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.) and Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) teamed together to record Saint Mary's lone doubles win — an 8-4 victory at No. 1. E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) and Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) both rallied from a set down to post singles wins, but the Knights would win the other four singles matches in straight sets to seal the win.
 
The Cardinals (4-7 overall) continue their spring trip schedule on Tuesday, squaring off against Houghton (9 a.m. EST) and Piedmont (3:30 p.m. EST) at the USTA National Campus.
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