SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2024: 2-1 Overall

CROWN POLARS

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2024: 0-1 Overall

GUSTAVUS GUSTIES

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2024: 0-0 MIAC, 0-1 Overall

CARLETON KNIGHTS

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2024: 3-0 MIAC, 3-0 Overall

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SMU-CROWN * LAST MEETING:

March 29, 2019 * Winona, MN

W, 9-0 * Series History

SMU-GAC * LAST MEETING:

Feb. 18, 2024 * St. Peter, MN

L, 9-0 * Series History

SMU-CARLETON * LAST MEETING:

Feb. 19, 2024 * Winona, MN

L, 8-1 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Feb. 3, 2024 * Winona, MN

Northwestern * L, 5-4

CROWN * LAST ACTION:

Feb. 3, 2024 * Owatonna, MN

Concordia * L, 9-0

GUSTAVUS * LAST ACTION:

Feb. 10, 2024 * St. Peter, MN

MSU-Mankato * L, 6-3

CARLETON * LAST ACTION:

Oct. 7, 2023 * Northfield, MN

St. Scholastica * W, 9-0

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

March 2, 2024 * Minneapolis, MN

St. Catherine * 6:30 p.m.

CROWN * UP NEXT: 

March 12-15 * Orlando, FL

Anderson * Piedmont * Aquinas

GUSTAVUS * UP NEXT: 

Feb. 24, 2024 * Milwaukee, WI

UW-Milwaukee * Concordia (WI)

CARLETON * UP NEXT: 

Feb. 24, 2024 * Rochester, MN

UW-Eau Claire * 1:00

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their nonconference matchups against Crown, Gustavus, and Carleton this weekend sitting at 2-1 overall.

• LAST TIME OUT: Saint Mary’s had its season-opening two-match winning streak snapped in heartbreaking fashion on Feb. 3, as the Cardinals dropped a 5-4 nonconference decision to Northwestern at the Winona Tennis Center.

• WINNING BIG: Thirteen of SMU’s last 18 wins have either been 9-0 or 8-0 decisions — including a pair of 8-1 victories over UW-River Falls and Martin Luther to kick off the 2024 campaign.

• HOME SWEET HOME: SMU’s match against Northwestern on Feb. 3 was the second straight home contest for the Cardinals, who will play at Crown on Friday, before returning home for matches vs. Gustavus (Feb. 17), Carleton (Feb. 18), and Saint Benedict (Feb. 24). … SMU is 11-9 in its last 20 home matches — including 1-1 this season and 4-4 in 2023. … SMU has picked up 15 of its last 22 wins at the Winona TC.

• NEW TERRITORY: The Cardinals’ September showdown with UW-River Falls marked the first time in head coach Jeff Halberg’s 25-year tenure that SMU has played a dual match in the Fall of the academic year. 

• STREAKING ALONG: With their 8-1 win over UW-RF on Sept. 16, Saint Mary’s has now faced the Falcons 20 times since 1997 — winning all 20 contests.

• STREAKING ALONG II: With their 8-1 victory against Martin Luther on Jan. 28, 2023, the Cardinals ran their winning streak over the Knights to 17. SMU is 18-1 overall against MLC — and have won nine of its last 10 between the two teams by 9-0 counts. … Saint Mary’s has dropped just 12 games in its nine doubles matches against the Knights over the last three years.

• LEADING THE CHARGE: Emily Dondelinger (Bemidji, Minn.) and Kathryn Stiegel (Sauk Rapids, Minn.) head into SMU’s three matches this weekend in singles play, sporting perfect 3-0 record, while Ella Boomgaarden (St. Peter, Minn.), Emily Henderson (Jordan, Minn.), Elena Ruzevich (Chicago, Ill.), and Natalie Peterson (St. Cloud, Minn.) all own two singles wins. … Henderson closed out 2023 with a team-high eight singles wins.

• WIN NO. 1: Dondelinger and Ruzevich picked up their first collegiate singles wins in SMU’s 8-1 win over UW-River Falls on Sept. 16. Dondelinger won 2-6, 6-1, 10-7 at No. 3, while Ruzevich posted a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 4. … Stiegel was the lone SMU player to pick up her first collegiate singles victory last season, winning 6-2, 6-3 against Bethany Lutheran on Feb. 25, 2023.

• MIXING THINGS UP: Dondelinger is the only Cardinal to play all three matches at the same position, going 3-0 at No. 3. SMU has used two different players at the other five singles spots. …. The Cardinals used at least two different players at all six singles positions in 2023. Two different SMU players competed at No. 1 singles, while four competed from the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 slots, and five lined up in the No. 5 and No. 6 positions.

• DOUBLING UP: The Cardinals have had six different doubles combinations account for their six doubles wins this season — Henderson/Peterson, Dondelinger/Henderson, Dondelinger/Lillian Kimber (Duluth, Minn.); Ruzevich/Boomgaarden, Ruzevich/Peterson, and Boomgaarden/Peyton Buerman.

• TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: Thanks to their 2-1 show in their three nonconference matches this season — 8-1 wins over UW-River Falls and Martin Luther, and a 5-4 loss to Northwestern — the Cardinals are now 80-22 against nonconference opponents since 2012.

CROWN SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Polars are winless in their only match of the season, falling to Concordia 9-0 on Feb. 3 in Owatonna, Minn.

• LAST TIME OUT: Crown was no match for Concordia, as the Cobbers swept all three doubles matches 8-0 and dropped just four games in the six singles matches in cruising to a 9-0 nonconference win over the Polars on Feb. 3 in Owatonna, Minn.

• LIMPING IN: With their loss to Concordia on Feb. 3, the Polars saw their losing streak climb to 44 straight. Crown has now won since beating North Central 6-3 on April 10, 2018. Crown closed out the 2018 season with consecutive losses, and finished 0-14 in 2019, 0-3 in 2020, 0-8 in 2022 and 0-13 in a year ago. 

GUSTAVUS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: After a pair of exhibition games in Florida, the Gusties dropped their 2024 season-opener, falling to NCAA Division II MSU-Mankato 6-3 on Feb. 10.

• LAST TIME OUT: Gustavus jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles, but the Mavericks dominated singles, winning five of the matches to claim the 6-3 nonconference victory in St. Peter, Minn.

• A YEAR AGO: Carleton proved to be the Gusties’ nemesis a year ago, as the Knights dealt GAC its only regular-season conference loss — a 6-3 decision on April 22, before ousting Gustavus in the championship match of the MIAC Playoffs with a 5-2 victory. … GAC concluded the 2023 season with an 18-13 overall record, including a 9-1 mark in conference play.

• SINGLED OUT: Alli Laux owns GAC’s lone singles win in 2024, collecting a 4-6, 7-6, 10-6 victory at No. 3 singles against MSU-Mankato last Saturday. … Overall, including tournament play, Laux has collected six singles victories, one more than Annie Kiemmensen, Veranique Poquette, and Taylor Ruhl. … Molly Austin closed out 2023 as the team’s singles wins leader with 21, followed by Allison Szaley and Laux with 17 each. … As a team, Gustavus was 112-67 in dual-match singles play.

• DOUBLING UP: x … Szaley/Austin teamed to posted a team-leading 18 doubles wins as a pair, followed by Laux/Renata Hernandez with 14. … Gustavus used 25 different doubles combinations last season, finishing the year 59-34 in dual matches.

CARLETON SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Knights head into their Sunday showdown against Saint Mary’s having already locked up three wins, sporting a perfect 3-0 record — with all three victories coming against conference opponents..

• LAST TIME OUT: Carleton had little trouble dismantling St. Scholastica in its MIAC contest on Oct. 7, surrendering just five games in the three doubles matches and nine in the six singles contests in rolling to a 9-0 victory over the Saints in Northfield, Minn. 

• TOTAL DOMINATION: The Knights come into Sunday’s matchup against Saint Mary’s having posted back-to-back-to-back 9-0 victories, sweeping past Hamline, Concordia, and St. Scholastica last fall. 

• YEAR TO REMEMBER: The Knights are coming off a season that ended one win away from perfection, as Carleton not only claimed the MIAC regular-season and tournament titles, but also reached the regional final of the NCAA national tournament, falling to No. 1-ranked University of Chicago 5-0. … The Knights ended the 2023 campaign with a 22-1 overall record, tying the program mark for wins in a season.

• THORN IN THEIR SIDE: Over the last twelve years, Carleton has made the national tournament six times (2012, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2023), and five times the University of Chicago has been the team to send the Knights home, including the last four trips to the NCAA Championships.

• FIRST ROAD TRIP: After three consecutive home matches, Sunday’s contest against Saint Mary’s is the first road match of the season for the Knights, who went 6-0 on their home courts a year ago, while sporting a 16-1 record on the road — including a perfect 10-0 mark in neutral-site matches.

• SINGLED OUT: Piper Brown, Mary Hose, Kiley Pickens, Miriam Shteyman, and Kat Smiricinschi all head into Carleton’s match vs. Saint Mary’s with perfect 3-0 records, while Ryann Witter is 2-0 and Kathryn Burton is 1-0. … Hose, Shteyman, and Smiricinschi have played all three matches at Nos. 1, 2, and 3 singles, respectively, with Brown going 1-0 at No. 5 and 2-0 at No. 6, while Witter is 2-0 at No. 5, and Burton is 1-0 at No. 6. … Hose closed out the 2023 season going 14-2 in singles play, while Shteyman was 12-4.

• DOUBLING UP: All six Carleton players — Brown, Hose, Shteyman, Pickens, Smiricinschi, and Witter — are 3-0 in doubles play. … Smiricinschi, Brown, and Pickens have all played with three different doubles partners in Carleton’s three matches. Hose/Witter are the only doubles pair to play more than one match together, going 2-0 at No. 1 doubles. … Hose compiled a 13-4 record in doubles play a year ago, tops among Carleton returners.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: The Knights have not dropped a set in singles play through three matches, posting six straight-set victories against Hamline, Concordia, and St. Scholastica. … A year ago, Carleton finished the year 99-15 in singles play, while going 53-12 in doubles action.