WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University men's tennis coach Jeff Halberg left the Winona Tennis Center a happy man Saturday afternoon.
 
And did his Cardinals.
 
SMU started strong, and never looked back, as the Cardinals picked up their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win of the season, dealing Concordia a 7-2 setback.
 
"It was a great conference win for the guys," said Halberg. "We came out of the blocks flying and never slowed down. I was really pleased with the effort from everyone, top-to-bottom."
 
To say the Cardinals "came out flying" was a bit of an understatement, as Saint Mary's doubles teams of E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.)/Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.), Evan Huemoeller (Owatonna, Minn.)/Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.), and Brendan Raabolle (Andover, Minn.)/Caden Rodning (Mason City, Iowa) made it look easy in breezing to 8-3, 8-2, and 8-3 wins, respectively, to give SMU the quick 3-0 lead.
 
And Janssen, Raabolle, Rodning, and Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) made sure the early lead would stand up, dropping just six games between the four of them in rolling to straight-set singles victories.
 
The Cardinals (1-3 MIAC, 8-6 overall) have little time to savor conference win No. 1, however, as they hit the road on Sunday, heading to Sta-Fit in Sartell, Minn., for a conference showdown against Saint John's. First serve is slated for noon.
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