The Saint Mary’s women’s tennis team closes out its regular-season schedule with a pair of conference matches this weekend, playing host to Saint Benedict in a 2 p.m. matchup on Friday, before heading to the Owatonna Tennis Center in Owatonna, Minn., for a 12:30 p.m. showdown against St. Olaf the following day.
SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS
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2024: 2-6 MIAC, 9-8 Overall
SAINT BENEDICT BENNIES
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2024: 4-2 MIAC, 6-6 Overall
ST. OLAF OLES
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2024: 3-3 MIAC, 9-5 Overall
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SMU-CSB * LAST MEETING:
March 19, 2023 * Sartell, MN
L, 8-1 * Series History
SMU-STO * LAST MEETING:
March 11, 2023 * Winona, MN
L, 9-0 * Series History
SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:
April 9, 2024 * St. Paul, MN
Macalester * L, 8-1
SAINT BENEDICT * LAST ACTION:
April 14, 2024 * St. Paul, MN
Macalester * L, 5-4
ST. OLAF * LAST ACTION:
April 13, 2024 * Collegeville, MN
Saint Benedict * L, 7-2
SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:
End of Regular Season
SAINT BENEDICT * UP NEXT:
April 20, 2024 * Arden Hills, MN
Bethel * 4:00
ST. OLAF * UP NEXT:
April 23, 2024 * Northfield, MN
Gustavus * 4:30
SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their final two matches of the regular season against Saint Benedict and St. Olaf sitting at 9-8 overall, while sporting a 2-6 mark in conference play.
• LAST TIME OUT: Peyton Buerman (Shawano, Wis.) collected a straight-set win at No. 6 singles, but the Cardinals would not handle Macalester’s talent up-and-down the roster, as the Scots deal SMU an 8-1 MIAC setback on April 9.
• WINNING BIG: Sixteen of SMU’s last 25 wins have either been 9-0 or 8-1 decisions — including a 9-0 sweep of Crown and five 8-1 victories this season.
• ROAD WARRIORS: Saint Mary’s closes out the regular season playing two of their final three matches on the road. After playing at Macalester on April 9, SMU will host Saint Benedict on Saturday, before heading to St. Olaf for its regular-season finale the following day. …. SMU is 12-13 in its last 25 home matches — including 2-5 this season and 4-4 in 2023. … Saint Mary’s owns a 7-3 road record this season.
• 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: The Cardinals’ wins over UMN Morris and Concordia on March 16-17 extended their winning streak to four — their longest since winning a program-record 11 in a row during the 2019 season.
• STREAKING ALONG II: 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 III: Fueled by their 8-1 victory against Martin Luther on Jan. 28, 2024, 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.
• PERFECTION: The Cardinals did not drop a game in their 9-0 sweep of Crown on Feb. 16 — winning all three doubles matches 8-0, and taking all six singles contests by identical 6-0, 6-0 outcomes.
• SINGLED OUT: Emily Dondelinger (Bemidji, Minn.) leads the Cardinals with nine singles wins, one more than Ella Boomgaarden (St. Peter, Minn.), Natalie Peterson (St. Cloud, Minn.), and Elena Ruzevich (Chicago, Ill.). … Saint Mary’s has received at least one win from eight of the nine players how had competed in singles play this season. … As a team, Saint Mary’s is 51-51 in singles play this season.
• WIN NO. 1: Dondelinger, Ruzevich, and Lillian Kimber (Duluth, Minn.) have all picked up their first collegiate singles wins this season. … Dondelinger and Ruzevich both posted win No. 1 in SMU’s 8-1 victory over UW-River Falls on Sept. 16, while Kimber picked her first win as a Cardinal against King’s on March 6.. … Kathryn Stiegel (Sauk Rapids, Minn.) 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: Saint Mary’s has used at least two different players at every position this season. SMU has used five different players at No. 5 singles, three at No. 2 and No. 6, and two at each of the other three 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 eight different doubles combinations account for their 26 doubles wins this season — with Boomgaarden/Peyton Buerman (Shawano, Wis.) leading the way with eight victories. The duo is 8-2 as a doubles combination and had their season-high eight-match winning streak snapped with an 8-7 (2) loss against UW-Superior on Sunday. … Dondelinger/Henderson are second on the team with six doubles wins, followed by
Ruzevich/Peterson with five. … Individually, Boomgaarden leads the way with 10 doubles wins, one more than Buerman, and two up on Peterson, Dondelinger, and Ruzevich. … As a team, SMU is 26-21 in doubles play this season.
• TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: Thanks to their 7-2 show in their nine nonconference matches this season, the Cardinals are now 85-23 against nonconference opponents since 2012.
SAINT BENEDICT SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Bennies head into their weekend tripleheader against Saint Mary’s, Bethel, and Gustavus sitting at .500, having gone 6-6 in its first 12 matches. CSB is 4-2 through its opening six conference contests.
• LAST TIME OUT: Saint Benedict got off to a fast start in its MIAC showdown against Macalester last Saturday, sweeping the three doubles matches to grab an early 3-0 lead. The Scots, however, answered by winning five of the six singles contests in dealing the Bennies a 5-4 setback in St. Paul, Minn.
• ROAD TRIPPIN’: The Bennies are in the midst of playing three consecutive road matches. CSB started its road trip at Macalester last Sunday, and will play at Saint Mary’s on Friday, and at Bethel on Saturday, before closing out its regular-season schedule with back-to-back home contests against Gustavus *Sunday) and Carleton (April 28).
• SINGLED OUT: Jane Bodensteiner and Sophia Jonas head into the weekend leading the Bennies with six singles victories, one more than both Greta Nesbit and Ashley Tarrolly, while Ryanna Steinhaus has four singles wins, and Peyton Kopel and Brooke Beier each have three. … Tarrolly owns all five of CSB’s wins at No. 1 singles. … Saint Benedict has used two different players at all six singles positions this season. … As a team, the Bennies are 32-38 in singles play through 12 matches.
• DOUBLING UP: The doubles pair of Kopel-Nesbit sits atop the team lead in doubles wins with eight, two more than Jonas/Tarrolly, with Bodensteiner/Kate Perbix sitting third with five doubles victories. … Kopel/Nesbit — which enters the weekend riding a six-match doubles winning streak — boasts an unblemished 6-0 record in conference play, with Jonas/Tarrolly going 5-1. … Saint Benedict has used nine different doubles combos, including two at No. 2, three at No. 1, and five at No. 3. … CSB sports a near-perfect 16-2 doubles mark in conference play, en route to a 23-12 overall record in doubles play this season.
ST. OLAF SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Oles head into their weekend showdown against Saint Mary’s sitting at 9-5 overall, including a 3-3 showing through the first six matches of their conference schedule.
• LAST TIME OUT: The Oles fell behind 3-0 after doubles and never recovered, falling to Saint Benedict 7-2 last Saturday at Saint John’s Chang Tennis Complex in Collegeville, Minn.
• ROAD WARRIORS: St. Olaf’s conference match against Saint Mary’s the Oles' 14th consecutive road match to open the season. St. Olaf, which was schedule to open a four-match regular season-ending homestand vs. SMU but was forced to move the match inside in Owatonna due to weather, will not play its first official home contest next Friday against Bethel. … St. Olaf is 9-5 on the road this season — including 7-2 in neutral-site matches.
• LIIMPING IN: With their 7-2 loss to Saint Benedict last Saturday, the Oles saw their losing streak climb to four straight. St. Olaf has not won since beating Warner University 6-1 on March 27.
• SINGLED OUT: Fiona O’Flaherty has been virtually unbeatable for the Oles in singles play, sporting 12 wins in 13 dual matches. Jane Spading and Olha Zuberieva are second to O’Flaherty with eight dual-match singles wins, while Sarah Clark owns five and Alexandra Berns has five. … Zuberieva went 3-1 in tournament play last fall, giving her 11 overall singles wins, one back of O’Flaherty. … Zuberieva is the only Ole to have played all 14 matches at the same position, going 8-6 at No. 1. … As a team, St. Olaf has gone 44-39 in singles play this season.
• DOUBLING UP: The doubles teams of Zubarieva/Clark and Berns/O’Flaherty share the team lead in doubles victories with six each. Anna Secor/Spading have picked up four doubles wins, followed by Emma Cliff/Spading with two. … Individually, Berns leads the team with 10 doubles wins, two more than Zuberieva, O’Flaherty, and Spading. … St. Olaf has used 16 different doubles combinations — including at least three different pairs at all three positions. The Oles have had three different combos play at No. 1. Four at No. 2, and seven at No. 3. … As a team, St. Olaf owns a 27-23 doubles record.
