WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University men's tennis coach Jeff Halberg called Friday's nonconference loss to Loras "a heartbreaker."
 
That might be putting it mildly.
 
The Cardinals, down 4-1 with four matches left, clawed their way back to within 4-3, and had the final two singles matches got to a third-set super-breaker, only to have the Duhawks pull out victories in both in dealing Saint Mary's a 6-3 setback at the Winona Tennis Center.
 
"What a heartbreaker," Halberg said. "I loved the fight we showed tonight — we were down 4-1 and battled to the bitter end — unfortunately, we came up a little short."
 
"Now it's time to regroup and get ready for (Saturday against Northwestern)."
 
Saint Mary's found itself staring at a 2-1 deficit after doubles action, with Evan Huemoeller (Owatonna, Minn.) and Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.) teaming for an 8-1 victory at No. 1 for the Cardinals.
 
Loras picked up a pair of straight-set singles wins at No. 2 and No. 5 to extend its lead to 4-1. Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) and Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.) got Saint Mary's within 4-3 with 6-4, 6-2 and 6-0, 5-7, 10-7 wins at No. 3 and No. 6 singles, respectively.
 
Which left two matches to go — Huemoeller at No. 1 and Caden Rodning (Mason City, Minn.) at No. 4. Huemoeller came up short after winning the opening set 6-1, falling to the Duhawks' Gage Becker, 1-6, 7-5, 10-7, while Rodning rallied from a set down, only to drop the in the third set super-breaker to Loras' Thomas Kampmier, 7-5, 4-6, 10-6.
 
The Cardinals (1-2 overall) are right back in action on Saturday, returning to the Winona Tennis Center for a 5 p.m. nonconference match against Loras.