ORLANDO, Fla. — It wasn't quite the spring trip kickoff Saint Mary's University men's tennis coach Jeff Halberg was hoping for.
 
The Cardinals, fresh off the plane from Winona, took the court early Monday morning, and could not overcome a little jet-lag in dropping an 8-1 nonconference decision to Adrian at the USTA National Tennis Complex.
 
"It was a tough day for us," said Halberg. "Adrian is a vastly improved team that played extremely well and deserved the result they got. We were a bit off today, and getting in late from a delayed flight certainly didn't help."
 
The Bulldogs raced through the three doubles matches, dropping just six games in grabbing the early 3-0 advantage.
 
Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.) picked up SMU's lone singles victory, outlasting Adrian's Darren Walker 6-4, 0-6, 11-9 at No. 6. Adrian picked up straight-set wins in the other five singles matches to seal the 8-1 victory.
 
Saint Mary's (4-6 overall) is back in action on the USTA National Tennis Complex courts on Tuesday, squaring off against King's College.