ST. PAUL, Minn. — It wasn't quite the season-ending outcome Saint Mary's University coach
Jeff Halberg was hoping for, but he certainly couldn't fault the Cardinals' effort.
Hamline raced out to a 3-0 lead after the three doubles matches, and the Cardinals could not recover, falling to the Pipers 6-3 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at the 98th Street Racquet Club.
"We just dug ourselves too big a hole after the doubles matches, and couldn't recover," said Halberg. "The guys really put up a fight, but you have to tip your hat to Hamline — they played a great match."
Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.) and
Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) dropped a heartbreaker at No. 1 doubles, falling 8-7 (4), while the Pipers cruised to 8-3 and 8-1 wins in the other two doubles matches en route to its 3-0 advantage.
E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.),
Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.) and
Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) collected singles wins for the Cardinals, with Stene delivering a 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6, while Hietala and Raabolle both needed a third set to record their wins. Hietala rallied from a set down to win 4-6, 6-4, 10-4 at No. 3, while Raabolle also dropped the first set 6-4, before rallying with wins of 6-3 and 10-2 at No. 4.
The Cardinals close out the season at 1-8 in conference play, while going 6-15 overall.
