ORLANDO, Fla. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team got back on the winning track in a big way Tuesday at the USTA National Campus.
 
The  Cardinals kicked off the second day of their spring trip by rolling to a 7-2 nonconference victory over Houghton in their first match of the day Tuesday.
 
Match 2, however, didn't end as favorably, as Piedmont grabbed an early lead and never looked back, dealing the Cardinals a 6-3 nonconference setback.
 
"The guys put together a phenomenal effort in beating a tough Houghton team," said Saint Mary's coach Jeff Halberg. "We put forth another solid effort against Piedmont — it just wasn't enough."
 
The final score may have made it appear like Saint Mary's opening-day win over Houghton was easy, but the 7-2 outcome was anything but.
 
The Cardinals kicked things off with a pair of hard-fought marathon doubles victories — an 8-6 triumph by Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.( and Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.), and an 8-5 wins by E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) and Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.) at No. 2.
 
Saint Mary's completed the win with five singles wins — four of which were stretched for a third set.
 
Kurilla rallied from a set down to win 4-6, 6-3, 10-3 at No. 1, while Raabolle also came back from an opening-set loss to win 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 at No. 4. Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) and Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.) chipped in three-set wins at No. 5 and No. 6 — Stene winning 6-3, 2-6, 10-5 and Besek adding a 6-1, 2-6, 10-8 triumph — while Hietala delivered a straight-set 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 3 to ice the win.
 
Piedmont grabbed the upper hand early, winning two of the three doubles matches — with Kurilla/Janssen earning their second No. 1 doubles win of the day with an 8-3 victory ot account for SMU's lone win.
 
Besek and Stene accounted for the Cardinals' two singles victories, with Besek winning in straight sets at No. 6, while Stene needed a pair of tie-breakers for a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) victory at No. 5.
 
After an off-day on Wednesday, the Cardinals (5-8 overall) close out their spring trip schedule on Thursday, squaring off against Mount Vernon Nazarene in a 3:30 p.m. EST nonconference contest at the USTA National Campus.
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