SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2023: 2-7 MIAC, 9-11 Overall

MARTIN LUTHER KNIGHTS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2023: 4-10 Overall

CARLETON KNIGHTS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2024: 3-0 MIAC, 4-0 Overall

ON THE WEB:

MIAC: MT Home *  Standings * Schedule

Social: Facebook * X * Threads * Instagram * YouTube

SMU-MLC * LAST MEETING:

Jan. 28, 2023 * Winona, MN

W, 9-0 * Series History

SMU-CAR * LAST MEETING:

Jan. 29, 2023 * Winona, MN

L, 9-0 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Sept. 29-30, 2023 * St. Peter, MN

ITA Regional/Midwest Open * Recap

MARTIN LUTHER * LAST ACTION:

April 24, 2023 * New Ulm, MN

UMN Morris * W, 7-2

CARLETON * LAST ACTION:

Oct. 7-8, 2023 * Northfield, MN

St. Scholastica * W, 9-0

UW-Superior * W, 6-3; Concordia * W, 8-1

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Feb. 2-3, 2024 * Winona, MN

Loras * 6:00; Northwestern * 6:00

Feb. 4, 2023 * Dubuque, IA

U. of Dubuque * TBA

MARTIN LUTHER * UP NEXT: 

Feb. 17, 2024 * Appleton, WI

Lawrence * 2:00

CARLETON * UP NEXT: 

Feb. 3, 2023 * Rochester, MN

Carthage * TBA

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals closed out their 2023 season sitting at 9-11 overall, including 2-7 through eight MIAC contests.

• ROAD TRIPPING: SMU played just eight of its 20 matches on its home court last season. SMU closed out the year 5-3 at home, while sporting a 4-8 mark away from the Winona Tennis Center.

• IN THE FALL: Evan Huemoeller (Owatonna, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals at the 2023 ITA Regional/Midwest Open last September, collecting a pair of singles wins en route to reaching the ITA consolation semifinals. … Philip Apel (North Oaks, Minn.), Michael Johnson (Hastings, Minn.), Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.), and Zak Farley (Sartell, Minn.) all picked up one singles victory at the Midwest Open.

• SINGLED OUT: Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) picked up his team-leading 12th dual-match singles win in SMU’s season-finale against St. Scholastica on April 22, 2023. … Stene’s 12 singles victories a year ago were three more than Caden Rodning (Mason City, Iowa). Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.) and E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) were tied for third with eight dual-match victories, followed by Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) with seven.

• GOING THE DISTANCE: The Cardinals had 25 singles contests extended to a third set in 2023 — including three each in matches against Saint John’s, Northwestern (Minn.) and St. Norbert. … SMU was 14-11 in those 25 three-set matches and are now 36-34 in three-setters over the last two seasons.

• CAREER FIRSTS: Michael Johnson (Hastings, Minn.) and Zak Farley (Sartell, Minn.) collected their first wins as Cardinals at the Midwest Open on Sept. 29, 2023. … SMU had two players — Apel and Caden Rodning (Mason City, Iowa) rack up their first collegiate singles wins a year ago.

• DOUBLING UP: Raabolle led the team in doubles wins with nine, going 9-9 last season — including 6-5 partnered with Rodning. … Rodning and Janssen are second on the squad with seven doubles wins, followed by Hietala and Matt Besek (Winona Minn.) with six each. … SMU used 17 different doubles combinations — including two at No. 1, seven at No. 2, and eight at No. 3.

• TOTAL DOMINATION: With their 9-0 win over Martin Luther in their 2023 season opener 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, 2023 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: The Cardinals closed out 2023 7-4 in nonconference play this season and are 78-37 in non-MIAC matches since 2012. 

MARTIN LUTHER SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: Martin Luther heads into its season-opener against Saint Mary’s on the heels of a 4-10 showing a year ago, including a 4-5 mark in its nine UMAC contests.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Knights closed out 2023 on a high note, cruising to a 7-2 conference win over UMN Morris on April 24, 2023.

• HOME SWEET HOME: MLC picked up two of its four wins on its home courts. The Knights finished the year 2-3 at home, while sporting a 2-7 mark on the road. 

• SINGLED OUT: Brian Friesenegger and Matthew Koelpin closed out the 2023 season sharing the team lead with five singles wins. The duo accounted for 10 of MLC’s 20 singles wins a year ago. … Josiah Koelpin and Johannes Bourman each chipped in three singles victories last season. … MLC used the same lineup at No. 1, No. 3, No. 3, and No. 6 singles in every match last season, while three different players competed at No. 2 and two Knights saw action at No. 5.

• DOUBLING UP: Josiah Koelpin and Silas Steinbrenner teamed up to recorded a team-best five wins in doubles play, one victory more than Matthew Koelpin/Friesenegger. The quartet accounted for nine of MLC’s 12 doubles victories last season. … The Knights used at least two different doubles combinations at all three spots a year ago.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS As a team, MLC finished 20-57 in singles play in 2023, while going 9-29 in doubles action. … MLC was shutout in six of its 10 losses a year ago, while also falling 6-3 once, 7-2 twice, and 8-1 once. On the flip side, the Knights won 7-2 twice and 8-1 twice to account for its four victories.

CARLETON SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Knights head into Sunday’s conference showdown against Saint Mary’s having already picked up four wins in four tries this season — including sporting a perfect 3-0 mark through their first three conference matches.

• LAST TIME OUT: Carleton made the most of its ability to kick off the 2024 season in 2023, beating Hamline (9-0) on Sept. 16, while dispatching of St. Scholastica (9-0), UW-Superior (6-3), and Concordia (8-1) on Oct. 7-8.

• WHAT A SEASON: The Knights are coming off a phenomenal 2023 campaign, closing out the year 18-4, including 8-1 in conference play. Carleton’s MIAC loss came at the hands of then-13th ranked Gustavus. GAC then eliminated the Knights from post-season play with a 5-0 win in the championship match of the MIAC Playoffs.

• HOME SWEET HOME: All four of Carleton’s wins this season have come on their home courts. The Knights played just one home match a year ago, while going 17-4 on the road — including 8-2 in neutral-site matches.

• SINGLED OUT: Cooper Kline and Aniketh Vipparia have each picked up singles wins in all four of the Knights’ matches this season, while Yuv Kataria, Jasper Yang, and Jerome Yang are all 3-0. … Kline has collected three of his four singles wins at No. 3, with the other coming at No. 1. Vipparia, meanwhile, is 1-0 at No. 5 and 3-0 at No. 6. … Kataria has recorded all three of his wins at No. 1 singles. …

• DOUBLING UP: Kataria and Balyun Jing are the Knights only unbeaten doubles team, going 2-0, with one win coming at No. 1 and one coming at No. 2. … Individually, Kataria is a perfect 4-0. Along with his two wins partnered with Jing, Kataria has also won teamed with both Jasper Yang and Jerome Yang. … Jack Rivkin and Jing are sitting second to Kataria with three doubles wins.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: As a team, Carleton is 23-1 in singles play, the lone loss coming at No. 5. … Carleton, which already used 10 doubles combinations, is 9-3 in doubles play through four matches — going 3-1 at all three positions.