WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team kicked off its second day of spring trip matches in impressive fashion Tuesday morning, as the Cardinals rolled to a 7-2 nonconference win over Albion.
 
Bolstered by their first win of the spring trip, the Cardinals picked up right where they left off later in the day against Adrian, battling from a 2-1 deficit to collected a 6-3 victory over the Bulldogs.
 
"The guys were not happy with their performance (on Monday) and were determined to put forth a better effort today," said Saint Mary's coach Jeff Halberg, referring to SMU's 9-0 loss to Calvin on Monday. "They really stepped up their game today — Albion and Adrian are both quality programs and the guys played some awesome tennis."
 
The Cardinals grabbed an early 3-0 lead against Albion, thanks to wins at all three doubles positions. E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.)/Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) delivered an 8-5 win at No. 1, while Evan Huemoeller (Owatonna, Minn.)/Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.) were 8-4 winners at No. 2, and Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.)/Caden Rodning (Mason City, Iowa) added a marathon 8-7 (7-4) win at No. 3.
 
Hietala, Janssen, Raabolle and Rodning completed the Cardinals' victory with straight-set singles wins.
 
 Unlike their first match of the day, the Cardinals had to come from behind against Adrian, falling behind 2-1 after doubles, with Hietala/Janssen collecting SMU's lone win with an 83 victory at No. 1.
 
And come-from-behind they did.
 
SMU picked up wins in five of the six singles contests, including a pair of three-setters to secure the win. Hietala, Janssen, and Raabolle all posted straight-set wins, while Tucker Stene () and Rodning both dropped the second set in their matches at No. 4 and No. 6, respectively, before rallying for 6-3, 4-6, 10-5 and 6-4, 1-6, 10-4 victories to seal the win.
 
The Cardinals (7-5 overall) are now off until March 11, when they return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 1:30 p.m. match against St. Olaf at the Winiona Tennis Center.
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