ST. PETER, Minn. — Evan Huemoeller (Owatonna, Minn.) and E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) kicked off the ITA Regional/Midwest Open on a high note for the Saint Mary's University men's tennis team, both picking up opening-round singles wins Friday.
 
Huemoeller delivered a 6-4, 6-4 win over Cornell's Alex Hadler-Strumiauf at the ITA Regional, while Hietala chipped in an 8-4 win over Harper Dick of St. Scholastica in the Midwest Open.
 
And Hietala — who had to wait nearly nine hours to finally take the court due to weather issues early in the day — pushed his tournament record to 2-0 with a thrilling, 8-7 (8) win over Mateus Silvestre from UW-Superior in the second round. Huemoeller wasn't as fortunate, falling to Luther's Max Loen 6-1, 6-0 in the second round.
 
Things didn't go so well for the rest of the Cardinals, however, as Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.), Peter Quinn (Lake Elmo, Minn.), Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.), and Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) fell at the Midwest Open, and Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) suffered an opening-round 6-1, 6-1 loss at the ITA Regional.
 
In (very) late-night doubles action Friday, all four doubles teams — Hietala/Huemoeller, Kurilla/Janssen, Quinn/Besek, and Raabolle/Stene — came out on the short end.
 
The Cardinals are back on the courts on Saturday for the second day of the ITA Regional/Midwest Open — including consolation singles and doubles action.
 
ITA REGIONAL
Singles
Brandon Kurilla lost to Aswath Viswanathan (Carleton), 6-1, 6-0
Evan Huemoeller defeated Alex Hadler-Strumiauf (Cornell), 6-4, 6-4
Evan Huemoeller lost to Max Loen (Luther), 6-1, 6-0
Josh Janssen lost to R.J. Griffith (UW-Eau Claire), 6-1, 6-1
 
Doubles
E.J. Hietala/Evan Huemoeller lost to Jordon Doi/Anton Korolev (Macalester), 8-3
Brandon Kurilla/Josh Janssen lost to Sam Rudenberg/Aiden Klass (Grinnell), 8-6
 
Midwest Open
Singles
Brenden Raabolle lost to Stepan Chernegov (Bethany Lutheran), 8-5
Peter Quinn lost to Jacob Weddle (Northwestern), 8-1
E.J. Hietala defeated Harper Dicks (St. Scholastica), 8-4
E.J. Hietala defeated Mateus Silvestre (UW-Superior), 8-7 (8)
Matt Besek lost to Luka Shaker (Grinnell), 8-1
Tucker Stene lost to Noah Mueller (Carleton), 8-6
 
Doubles
Peter Quinn/Matt Besek lost to Harry Hawbaker/Grant Idoux (Coe), 8-1
Brenden Raabolle/Tucker Stene lost Noah Mueller/Jack Rivkin (Carleton), 8-2