SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023: 1-4 MIAC, 8-7 Overall

HAMLINE PIPERS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2023: 0-2 MIAC, 7-3 Overall

SMU-HAM * LAST MEETING:

April 24, 2022 * St. Paul, MN

L, 6-3 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

March 18-19, 2023 * Winona/Sartell, MN

Concordia * W, 7-2 | Saint John’s * L, 9-0

HAMLINE * LAST ACTION:

March 16, 2023 * Orlando, FL

Scranton * W, 7-2

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

April 1, 2023 * Winona, MN

Macalester * 1:30 p.m.

HAMLINE * UP NEXT: 

March 26, 2023 * Rogers, MN

Concordia * 12:30 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference showdown against Hamline Saturday sitting at 8-7 overall, including 1-4 in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals split their two conference matches last weekend, rolling to a 7-2 win over Concordia last Saturday at the Winona Tennis Center, before dropping a 9-0 decision to Saint John’s the following afternoon at Sta-Fit in Sartell, Minn. 

• HOME SWEET HOME: Saturday’s match against Hamline is the third home match in their last four contests for the Cardinals, who are in the midst of playing four of five contest on their home courts — the lone exception, last Sunday’s matchup at Saint John’s.. … Saint Mary’s has played just six of its first 15 matches on its home courts. The Cardinals are 4-2 at the Winona Tennis Center this season, while sporting a 4-5 record on the road. … Five of the Cardinals’ six wins in 2022 came on the road. 

• SINGLED OUT: Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) picked up his team-leading 10th dual-match singles win against Concordia last Saturday. Stene’s 10 singles wins are one more than Caden Rodning (Mason City, Iowa). Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.) is third with eight dual-match victories, followed by E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) and Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) with six each. … Rodning and Raabolle are both 7-3 in their last 10 matches, with Rodning riding a three-match winning streak. … Hietala and Stene closed out the 2022 campaign owning a team-leading 11 dual-match singles wins.

• GOING THE DISTANCE: The Cardinals have had 19 singles contests extended to a third set this season — including three each in matches against Saint John’s, Northwestern (Minn.) and at St. Norbert. … SMU is 11-8 in those 18 three-set matches. … SMU closed out the 2022 season owning a 22-23 mark in its 45 three-setters.

• CAREER FIRSTS: Evan Huemoeller (Owatonna, Min.) posted a 7-5, 7-6 (4) win against Martin Luther on Jan. 28 in his first appearance at No. 1 singles. … Rodning’s 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles against Martin Luther on Jan. 28 was his first collegiate singles victory. 

• DOUBLING UP: Raabolle leads the team in doubles wins with eight, going 8-5 — including 6-2 partnered with Rodning. … Rodning is second on the squad with seven doubles wins, followed by Janssen and Matt Besek (Winona Minn.) with six each. … Besek and Janssen are a perfect 3-0 when paired together. … SMU has used 14 different doubles combinations — including two at No. 1, six at No. 2, and seven at No. 3.

 • PERFECT DAY: Hietala and Janssen enjoyed a perfect day in the Cardinals’ nonconference wins over Albion and Adrian on Feb. 28. The duo each picked up singles wins in both matches, while teaming together for a pair of victories at No. 2 doubles. 

• TOTAL DOMINATION: With their 9-0 win over Martin Luther on Jan. 28, the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to 20 straight against the Knights. SMU has never lost to Martin Luther in program history.

• TURNING THE TABLES: The Cardinals’ win over Bethany Lutheran on Feb. 25 marked the second straight meeting with the Vikings in which the match ended with a 5-4 decision. BLC beat Saint Mary’s 5-4 a year ago.

• OUT OF THEIR LEAGUE: With their wins over Albion and Adrian on Feb. 28, the Cardinals moved to 7-3 in nonconference play this season and 78-36 in non-MIAC matches 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.

HAMLINE PIPERS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Pipers head into Saturday’s road matchup against Saint Mary’s sitting at 7-3 overall, but HU is still searching for its first conference win, dropping its first two MIAC contests against Carleton (9-0) and Gustavus (9-0).

• LAST TIME OUT: Hamline closed out a perfect 3-0 showing in Orlando, Fla., with a 7-2 nonconference win over Scranton on March 16. HU also defeated Salve Regina (8-1) and Franciscan (6-3) during its stay at the USTA National Campus.

• ROAD WARRIORS: Saturday’s match against Saint Mary’s is the seventh straight road match for the Pipers, who are 1-1 in their only two home contests, while going 6-2 away from home. 

• ON A ROLL: After going 2-2 in four matches played last fall, the Pipers are 5-1 in their last six contests — sandwiching two- and three-match winning streaks around a 9-0 loss to Gustavus.

• SINGLED OUT: Isaac Hultberg, Tyler Rousslang, and Surprise Taylor all share the team lead with seven singles wins each. The trio have accounted for 21 of the team’s 33 dual-match singles victories. … Sam Thompson and Hultberg have played all 10 matches at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively, while HU has used two different players at No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5, and four different players in the No. 6 position. … Hultberg, Taylor, Rousslang, and Zach Irrthum are all riding three-match winning streaks. … Hamline has yet to win a match at No. 1 singles this season (0-10).

• DOUBLING UP: Rousslang and Taylor both share the team lead with eight doubles wins, including five victories as a doubles pair at No. 1. … Le is second to Rousslang and Taylor with seven doubles wins, six coming paired with Thompson at No. 2. … The doubles teams of Hultberg/Rousslang and Irrthum/Taylor are both riding three-match winning streaks. … As a team, Hamline is 20-10 in doubles action this season.