WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team took to the courts Friday evening riding a pair of impressive season-opening streaks.
 
Unfortunately, when the Cardinals left the Lifetime Fitness Center, both of those streaks had fallen by the wayside.
 
After opening the season with back-to-back 9-0 nonconference wins over Martin Luther and the University of Dubuque, Saint Mary's suffered its first loss of the season, as Northwestern (Minn.) handed the Cardinals a 7-2 nonconference setback.
 
"It was a tough loss," said Saint Mary's coach Jeff Halberg. "We had some very close losses at a number of positions, but you have to tip your hat to Northwestern — they played a great match."
 
The Eagles jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the doubles portion, with Maddie Dosser (South St. Paul, Minn.) and Emily Henderson (Jordan, Minn.) teaming for an 8-6 victory at No. 1 for the Cardinals.
 
Henderson accounted for SMU's lone singles win, posting a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 6. Zoie Becker (St. James, Minn.) and Ashley Renwick (Farmington, Minn.) both suffered three-set singles losses — Becker falling 0-6, 6-3, 10-4 at No. 1, while Renwick dropped a 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 setback at No. 3.
 
Saint Mary's (2-1 overall) is back in action on Saturday, when the Cardinals head to St. Peter, Minn., for a conference-opening 1:30 p.m. match against MIAC powerhouse Gustavus. 
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