DULUTH, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's women's tennis team took the courts for Saturday's season finale against St. Scholastica, coach Jeff Halberg's line-up looked a lot different than it did when the Cardinals kicked off the 2023 season in February.
 
Injuries have plagued the Cardinals for much of the season, forcing Halberg to piece together a line-up with the healthy bodies he had remaining. Add to that having to play two matches in a three-day span, and Saturday's finale against the Saints was a tough task.
 
And despite a gallant effort, the shorthanded Cardinals were no match for St. Scholastica, as the Saint dealt SMU a 9-0 conference setback at the Duluth Indoor Sports Center.
 
"The ladies put up a great fight to finish what has been a challenging season," said Halberg. "We got off to a bit of a slow start in doubles, but really played some tremendous tennis in singles."
 
St. Scholastica took advantage of the Cardinals' slow start in doubles, grabbing the early 3-0 lead thanks to three straight 8-0 victories.
 
CSS added four straight-set singles victories, but needs three sets to get past Maddie Dosser (South St. Paul, Minn.) at No. 3 and Ella Boomgaarden (St. Peter, Minn.) at No. 4. Dosser opened with a 6-3 win in her match at No. 3, but dropped the next two sets in falling 3-6, 6-2, 10-3, while Boomgaarden split her first two sets — losing 4-6 and rebounding with a 6-4 win in the second set — only to fall in the third set 10-8.
 
The Cardinls closed out the season 6-12 overall, including 1-9 in conference play.
 
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