SAINT MARY'S CARDINALS 

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• 2022: 0-3 MIAC * 5-10 Overall

CONCORDIA COBBERS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

• 2022: 0-5 MIAC * 0-10 Overall

SMU v. CC * LAST MEETING

April 18, 2021 * W, 9-0 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

March 12, 2022 * St. Olaf * L, 8-1

CONCORDIA * LAST ACTION:

March 12, 2022 * Gustavus * L, 9-0

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

March 26, 2022 * Macalester

Minneapolis, MN * 2:00

March 27, 2022 * Bethel

Winona Tennis Center * 1:00

CONCORDIA * UP NEXT:

March 26, 2022 * Northwestern

Fargo, ND * 5:00

March 26, 2022 * Morris/Hamline

Fargo, ND * 10:00/4:00

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference showdown against Concordia on Sunday sitting at 5-10 overall, including 0-3 in their first three MIAC contests.

• LAST TIME OUT: Four of the six singles matches went to a third set, but the Cardinals were unable to win any of the four, as St. Olaf dealt Saint Mary’s an 8-1 conference setback on March 12 in Owatonna, Minn.

• SUCCESS ON THE ROAD: Four of the Cardinals’ five wins have come on the road this season. Saint Mary’s — which played seven of its first 10 matches on their home courts — is 1-6 at home, while boasting a 4-4 mark away from the Winona Tennis Center.

• SINGLED OUT: E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) heads into Sunday’s contest against Concordia owning a team-leading nine dual-match singles wins. The junior also collected three singles matches at the ITA/Midwest Open last fall to give him a team-best 12 overall singles victories. Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) is second to Hietala with eight dual-match singles wins. … Stene is the Cardinals’ hottest player right now, having won each of his last five singles matches. … Janssen and Hietala both put together season-high five-match singles wins earlier this year. 

• 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 Stene and Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.). Stene notched SMU win No. 1 against Martin Luther on Jan. 29, while Raabolle picked up his first collegiate singles wins at the ITA Regional/Midwest Open on Oct. 1. 

• GOING THE DISTANCE: Four of the six singles matches in the Cardinals’ 8-1 loss to St. Olaf on March 12 went to a third set. SMU has now had 16 of its 30 singles matches in its last five contests extended to a third set. … The Cardinals have played 37 three-set matches this season  and own an 18-19 mark in three-setters.

• PERFECT RUN: Janssen and Hietala 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/Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.) leads the Cardinals with 10 doubles wins — all at No. 1 — while Hietala/Peter Quinn (Lake Elmo, Minn.) are second with four doubles wins at No. 2. Hietala has also teamed with Raabolle to post three wins in seven matches together. … Besek has had a hand in four dual-match doubles wins, going 2-4 with Raabolle and 2-5 with Caden Rodning (Mason City, Iowa). … SMU has used one doubles combination at No. 1 and two at 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.

• 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.

• PROGRAM FIRSTS: The Cardinals’ matches against Calvin, Piedmont, Houghton, and Mount Vernon Nazarene during their spring trip were all the first meetings in program history.

• OUT OF THEIR LEAGUE: The Cardinals’ losses to UW-Superior and Loras last weekend snapped their five-game nonconference winning streak. SMU is now 6-6 in nonconference play this season and 72-32 vs. non-MIAC foes since 2012. 

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cobbers enter conference play against Saint Mary’s on Sunday still searching for their first win of 2022, having dropped each of their first 10 contests.

• LAST TIME OUT: Concordia was no match for high-powered Gustavus on March 12, falling to the Gusties 9-0 at the Swanson Indoor Tennis Center in St. Peter, Minn.

• STILL SEARCHING: With their loss to Gustavus on March 12, Concordia has now lost each of its 10 matches this season, while seeing its overall losing streak climb to 21 straight, dating back to a 6-3 win over Adrian on March 5, 2020.

• SWEPT AWAY: Six of Concordia’s 10 losses this season have been by 9-0 counts — including each of its last three. Add that to their six 9-0 loses last season, and 12 of CC’s 20 losses over the past two seasons have been sweeps.

• SINGLED OUT: Logan Voigt and Jake Peters have accounted for four of the team’s seven singles victories this season. Voigt has picked up his two wins at No. 6 singles, while Peters owns both of CC’s victories at No. 1. … Grant Storm owns CC’s other singles victory, with the Cobbers’ other two singles wins coming via forfeit. … Peters (No. 1) and Sean Martin (No. 2) are the only Cobbers to play all 10 matches at the same position. Voigt, meanwhile, has played matches at three different spots — Nos. 4, 5, and 6.

• DOUBLING UP: Jake Peters and Eli Simonson have teamed to post a season-high two doubles wins, with Kipton Jenson/Grant Storm and Martin/Voigt accounting for the other two. … CC has used two different doubles combinations at both No. 1 and No. 3, while four different Cobber pairs of played at No. 2.