SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2022: 1-8 MIAC, 6-15 Overall

MARTIN LUTHER KNIGHTS

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2022: 1-7 UMAC, 1-11 Overall

CARLETON KNIGHTS

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2022: 8-1 MIAC, 15-6 Overall

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SMU-MLC * LAST MEETING:

Jan. 29, 2022 * Winona, MN

W, 7-2 * Series History

SMU-CAR * LAST MEETING:

Jan. 30, 2022 * Winona, MN

L, 9-0 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

April 24, 2022 * St. Paul, MN

Hamline * L, 6-3

MARTIN LUTHER * LAST ACTION:

April 30, 2022 * W. Bear Lake, MN

Northwestern (MN) * L, 9-0

CARLETON * LAST ACTION:

Oct. 9, 2022 * Duluth, MN

St. Scholastica * W, 8-1

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Feb. 4-5, 2023 * Green Bay, WI

Ripon * Lawrence * St. Norbert

MARTIN LUTHER * UP NEXT: 

Feb. 10, 2023 * Sioux City, IA

Morningside * 2:00

CARLETON * UP NEXT: 

Feb. 4-5, 2023 * Racine, WI/Lake Genva, WI

Carthage * UW-Whitewater

SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals closed out the 2022 season with a 6-15 overall record, including a 1-8 mark in conference play.

• TOTAL DOMINATION: With their 7-2 win over Martin Luther on Jan. 29, 2022, the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to 19 straight against the Knights. SMU has never lost to Martin Luther in program history.

• SUCCESS ON THE ROAD: Five of the Cardinals’ six wins in 2022 came on the road. Saint Mary’s — which played seven of its first 10 matches on their home courts — was 1-7 at home, while boasting a 5-5 mark away from the Winona Tennis Center.

• SINGLED OUT: E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) closed out the 2022 campaign owning a team-leading 11 dual-match singles wins. The then-junior also collected three singles matches at the ITA/Midwest Open last fall to give him a team-best 14 overall singles victories. Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) shared the team lead with 11 dual-match singles wins in his first year as a Cardinal. … Stene had his season- and career-high six-match winning streak snapped against Macalester on March 26, 2022. The freshman ended the year 7-3 in his last 10 singles matches. … Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) and Hietala both put together season-high five-match singles wins earlier in the 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, 2022. Besek is the fourth Cardinal to record collegiate win No. 1, joining Stene, Peter Quinn (Lake Elmo, Minn.), and Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.). Stene notched SMU win No. 1 against Martin Luther on Jan. 29, 2022, while Quinn notched his against Ripon on Feb. 4, 2022 and Raabolle picked up his first collegiate singles win at the ITA Regional/Midwest Open on Oct. 1, 2021. 

• GOING THE DISTANCE: Six of the 12 singles matches in the Cardinals’ season-ending losses to St. Scholastica and Hamline last season went to a third set. SMU closed out the season playing 45 three-set matches this season and own an 22-23 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, 2022, winning all three of their singles and doubles matches.

• DOUBLING UP: The doubles team of Janssen/Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.) led the Cardinals with 12 doubles wins last season — all at No. 1 — while Hietala/Quinn were second with four doubles wins at No. 2. Hietala also teamed with Raabolle to post four wins in eight doubles matches together. … Besek had a hand in four dual-match doubles wins, going 2-4 with Raabolle and 2-5 with Caden Rodning (Mason City, Iowa). … SMU used just one doubles combination at No. 1, four combinations at No. 2, and six at No. 3.

• WEEKLY HONOR: Janssen collected his first collegiate MIAC Athlete of the Week honor on Feb. 7, 2022, after his perfect 6-0 showing in SMU’s wins over Ripon, Lawrence, and St. Norbert on Feb. 4-5.

• 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 on Feb. 18-19, 2022 snapped their five-game nonconference winning streak. SMU is now 5-7 in nonconference play this season and 71-33 vs. non-MIAC foes since 2012. 

• NEW THIS YEAR: The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III Operating Committee has instituted a mandatory, no-ad scoring pilot for all of D-III tennis for the 2022-23 season. No-ad tennis matches are played as follows: If each player/team has won three points, the score is “Deuce” and a deciding point shall be played. The receiver(s) shall choose whether to receive the service from the right half or the left half of the court. In doubles, the players of the receiving team cannot change positions to receive this deciding point. The player/team who wins the deciding point wins the game.

MARTIN LUTHER KNIGHTS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Knights head into their season-opening match against Saint Mary’s on the heels of a 1-11 showing in 2022, including a 1-7 mark in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play.

• STREAKING: Martin Luther snapped a season-opening eight-match losing streak with a 5-4 win over UM-Morris on April 21, 2022. The win was the Knights’ lone victory of the season, having closed out the year with three consecutive losses.

• HOME (NOT SWEET HOME: Martin Luther was winless in its five home matches last season, while going 1-6 on the road.

• SWEEPING: The Knights were shut out in seven of their 11 losses last season – including six 9-0 sweeps and a 7-0 loss to Doane.

• SINGLED OUT: Josiah Wordell closed out the 2022 season as the team’s singles wins leader with four, one more than Elijah Schultz, and two in front of Marcus Sims. Seth Koelpin and Jonah Schulz accounts for MLC’s other two singles victories last season.

• DOUBLING UP: Elijah Schulz had a hand in two of MLC’s three doubles wins last season, teaming with both Brian Friesenegger and Sims for one win each. … Jonah Schulz and Seth Koelpin teamed up to post the Knights’ other doubles victory a year ago.

• AS A TEAM: Martin Luther closed out the season 11-61 in singles play – including 4-8 at No. 4, 3-9 at No. 5, and 2-10 at No. 6. MLC won just once at both No. 1 and No. 2 singles, while coming up empty in 12 matches at No. 3. … Martin Luther finished just 3-33 in doubles action in 12 matches last season — winning once at No. 1 and twice at No. 3.

• MIAC FOES: Martin Luther played a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents in 2022 — falling to both Saint Mary’s (7-2) and Macalester (9-0).

CARLETON KNIGHTS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Knights, who kicked off 2023 conference play with wins over Hamline (9-0) and St. Scholastica (8-1) last fall, closed out the 2022 season sitting at 15-6 overall, including a near-perfect 8-1 showing in conference play. 

• TOURNEY TIME: Carleton reached the title match in the MIAC Playoffs in 2022, falling to top-seeded and 16th-ranked Gustavus 5-0. The loss to the Gusties was their second in as many meetings a year ago. GAC beat the Knights 7-2 in their regular-season meeting on April 23

• IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: Carleton’s Tarm Rojanasoonthon, who went 15-2 at No. 1 singles for the Knights in his freshman season a year ago, qualified for the NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championships — falling in the first round of singles competition, 7-6 (3), 6-3.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Carleton was unbeatable on its home courts last season, compiling a perfect 4-0 record, while sporting 4-4 mark on the road and a 7-2 showing in neutral-site matches.

• SINGLED OUT: Rojanasoonthon was one of five Knights who recorded 10 or more singles wins in 2022. Xander Roti joined Rojanasoonthon with 15 regular-season victories, while Aswath Viswanathan closed out the year with 13, and Yuv Kataria and Tate Fuller delivered 11 and 10 wins, respectively.

• SPREADING THE WEALTH: Rojanasoonthon collected all 15 of his singles wins at No. 1. He was one of three Knights to compete at the No. 1 singles spot, while Carleton used four different players at No. 2, five at Nos. 3-4-5, and six at No. 6.

• DOUBLING UP: Kataria and Aniketh Vipparla were the winningest doubles combination for the Knights in 2022, going 10-6 — and picking up wins at all three doubles positions. … Viswanathan/William Walsh were second on the team with seven doubles wins, followed by Bence Kisgecz and Noah Mueller with five. … Carleton used 17 different doubles combinations in 2022.

• AS A TEAM: The Knights finished the year 93-25 in singles play last season, including an 18-2 mark at No. 1. Carleton was 13-7 at No. 2, 15-4 at No. 3, 15-5 at No. 4, 16-4 at No. 5, and 16-3 at No. 6. … Carleton closed out the year with a 44-19 record in doubles play, going 18-3 at No. 3, 15-6 at No. 2, and 11-10 at No. 1.

• STREAKING: The Knights kicked off the season winning nine of their first 10 — sandwiching four-match and five-match winning streaks around a 5-4 loss to Carthage. Carleton put together its second four-match winning streak at the end of 2022, before falling to Gustavus in the MIAC Playoff title match.

• DOMINATION: Seven of Carleton’s 15 wins last season were sweeps, while the Knights also picked up five 8-1 victories and three 7-2 triumphs. On the flip side, three of Carleton’s six losses were decided by 5-4 counts. The Knights’ other three losses were by 6-3, 7-2, and 5-0 counts.