WINONA, Minn. — As if playing perennial conference power Gustavus wasn't tough enough, the Saint Mary's University women's tennis team had to turn around and face the only Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team to beat the Gusties last year.
 
Just a day after falling to Gustavus — the conference's regular-season and tournament runner-up — the Cardinals took the court Sunday against the MIAC's regular-season and tournament champion, Carleton.
 
And the nationally-ranked Knights proved to be too much for the Cardinals to handle in dealing Saint Mary's a 9-0 MIAC setback at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
"The ladies put up a good battle," said SMU head coach Jeff Halberg. "But I am predicting that they just lost to the upcoming MIAC champions, again. Carleton is so, so good — and they are most definitely the team to beat again this year."
 
Carleton breezed through the three doubles matches — winning 8-4 at No. 1, 8-3 at No. 2, and 8-0 at No. 3, to grab the early 3-0 lead.
 
And the Knights were just getting warmed up, adding straight-set wins at all six singles matches in completing the 9-0 victory.
 
The Cardinals (0-2 MIAC, 3-3 overall) return to conference play on March 2, when they head to Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 6:30 p.m. matchup against St. Catherine.