WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team appeared to be on the cusp of collecting its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory of the season Saturday afternoon.
 
Only to have the adage "things aren't always as they appear" rear its ugly head.
 
With Saint Mary's leading 4-3, Concordia won the final two matches — including the decisive match when SMU's Peyton Buerman (Shawano, Wis.) was forced to retire due to injury — lifting the Cobbers to the 5-4 win at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
"What a tough way to lose," said Saint Mary's women's tennis coach Jeff Halberg. "This group battled all afternoon and left it all on the court, and I could not be more proud of their effort."
 
The Cardinals found themselves trailing 2-1 after the doubles, getting an 8-2 win from Maddie Dosser (South St. Paul, Minn.)/Emily Henderson (Jordan, Minn.) at No. 1, but rallied with singles wins by Henderson, Zoie Becker (St. James, Minn.), and Ashley Renwick (Farmington, Minn.) to take a 4-3 lead.
 
Concordia collected a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles to pull even at 4-4 and earned the win when Buerman was forced to retire due to a knee injury, despite leading 6-1, 2-2.
 
Saint Mary's (0-4 MIAC, 5-6 overall) are right back in action on Sunday, when the Cardinals travel to Sta-Fit in Sartell, Minn.) for a 3 p.m. conference matchup against Saint Benedict.
 
 
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