WAVERLY, Iowa — Wartburg had the home court advantage Saturday morning in its nonconference match against the Saint Mary's men's tennis team — and the Knights made the most of it.
Playing a rare outdoor match, the Cardinals struggled to adjust to the conditions in dropping an 8-1 decision at the Wartburg Courts.
"Wartburg is a very solid team and they played very well," said Saint Mary's coach
Jeff Halberg. "It took us a while to get used to playing outside — we've played so many of our matches indoors, and we weren't able to make that adjustment."
The Knights raced out to a 3-0 lead after the doubles portion of the contest, winning 8-4 at both No. 1 and No. 2, while adding an 8-2 victory at No. 3.
Philip Apel (North Oaks, Minn.) collected SMU's lone singles win, posting a 7-5, 6-3 victory at No. 6, while
E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) dropped a marathon 1-6, 6-3, 11-9 decision at No. 2.
The Cardinals (9-9 overall) close out their regular-season schedule with a pair of road matches next week, heading to Arden Hills, Minn., for a 4 p.m. MIAC match against Bethel on Wednesday, before traveling to the Duluth Indoor Sports Center in Duluth, Minn., for a 1 p.m. matchup against St. Scholastica on Saturday.
