The Saint Mary’s men’s tennis team returns to conference play on Saturday, as the Cardinals host Bethel in a 1:30 p.m. conference match at the Winona Tennis Center.
SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS
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2024: 0-3 MIAC, 5-8 Overall
BETHEL ROYALS
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2024: 1-1 MIAC, 8-5 Overall
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SMU-BU * LAST MEETING:
April 20, 2024 * Minneapolis, MN
L, 8-1 * Series History
SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:
March 17, 2024 * Fargo, ND
Concordia * L, 5-4
BETHEL * LAST ACTION:
March 14, 2024 * Orlando, FL
Salve Regina * W, 9-0
SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:
April 6, 2024 * Winona, MN
St. Scholastica * 1:30
April 7, 2024 * Minneapolis, MN
Hamline * 11:30
BETHEL UP NEXT:
March 27, 2024 * Minneapolis, MN
Hamline * TBA
SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference matches against Bethel and Macalester sitting at 5-8 overall, while sporting an 0-3 mark in conference play.
• LAST ACTION: The Cardinals got off to a slow start, and could not take advantage of three singles matches that were extended to a third set in falling to Concordia 8-1 last Sunday in Fargo, N.D.
• ROAD WARRIORS: Last Sunday’s match against Concordia was the fourth straight road contest for the Cardinals, who are in the midst of playing nine of 11 matches on the road. After Sunday’s match at Macalester, the Cardinals will play three of their final four regular-season matches on their home courts. … SMU is 1-4 in its five home matches this season, while going 4-4 away from the Winona TC.
• 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: Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.) had his season-high three-match singles winning streak snapped with a straight-set loss against Concordia last Sunday. … Besek heads into the weekend owning a team-high eight singles wins, one more than Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.), followed by Apel with five and Brendon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.) with four. … Huemoeller has played all 13 matches at No. 1 singles and is the only Cardinal to have played every match at the same position. … Stene closed out 2023 with a team-leading 12 singles wins.
• GOING THE DISTANCE: The Cardinals have had 15 singles matches extended to a third-set super-breaker this season, with SMU going 8-7 in those seven contests. … SMU had four of its six singles matches against Albion on March 6 extended to a third set, with the Cardinals going 3-1 in those four contests. … Saint Mary’s had 25 singles contests go to a third set in 2023 — including three each in matches against Saint John’s, Northwestern (Minn.) and St. Norbert — and finished 14-11 in those 25 three-setters.
• FIT TO BE TIE(BREAKERED): Saint Mary’s had five of its 13 singles sets in its 7-2 win over Lawrence on Feb. 9 decided by a tie-breaker — including a 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5) loss by Besek at No. 6.
• DOUBLING UP: Huemoeller and Raabolle have teamed up to record a team-high five doubles wins, going 5-5 at No. 1. … The doubles teams of Caden Rodning (Mason City, Iowa)/Trevor Smiley (Minnetonka, Minn.), Rodning/Besek, and Johnson/Stene have all collected a pair of wins as a doubles combos. … Individually, Raabolle and Huemoeller share the team lead with six doubles wins, one more than Rodning. … Raabolle led the team in doubles wins with nine last season, going 9-9 — including 6-5 partnered with Rodning.
• TOTAL DOMINATION: With their 9-0 win over Martin Luther in their season opener on Jan. 27, the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to 21 straight against the Knights. SMU has never lost to Martin Luther in program history. …
• OUT OF THEIR LEAGUE: With their 5-5 record in nonconference play this season, the Cardinals are now 83-42 in non-MIAC matches since 2012.
BETHEL SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Royals head into their Saturday showdown against Saint Mary’s sporting an 8-5 overall record, while having split their first two MIAC matches — falling to Gustavus (9-0) and beating Concordia (8-1).
• LAST TIME OUT: BU closed out its five-match spring trip to Orlando, Fla., in impressive fashion, rolling to a 9-0 victory over Salve Regina on March 14. … Bethel finished 3-2 in Florida, beating Springfield (6-3), Saint Francis (7-2), and Salve Regina (9-0), while falling to Piedmont (7-2) and Hope (5-4).
• ROAD WARRIORS: Saturday’s match at Saint Mary’s is the 14th straight road contest for the Royals, who will play road match No. 15 in a row on March 27 against Hamline, before finally kicking off their home slate against Carleton on April 3.
• SINGLED OUT: Carter Sheard heads into the weekend’s match against SMU boasting a team-high 11 singles wins – including victories at each of the first three singles positions. Sheard is 2-0 at No. 1, 6-2 at No. 2, and 3-0 at No. 3. … Dylan Magistad and Robert Seaton are second on the team with eight singles victories apiece, one more than both Zack Chaffey and Watson Sheard. … As a team, BU — which has used at least two different players at all six singles slots — is 50-26 in singles play through 13 matches.
• DOUBLING UP: Dylan Magistad and Gavin Hutter have collected a team-leading seven victories as a doubles combo. They are the only doubles pair to play all 13 matches at the same position going 7-6 at No. 1. … Watson Sheard/Zack Chaffey are second on the team with five doubles wins, two more than Carter Sheard/Watson Sheard. … Individually, Watson Sheard leads the team with nine doubles victories, followed by Magistad and Hutter with seven, and Chaffey with six. … BU has used five different doubles pairs at No. 2 and eight at No. 3. … As a team, BU is 20-19 in doubles play.
