FARGO, N.D. — The Saint Mary's men's tennis team got back on the winning track in impressive fashion Sunday morning, as the Cardinals rolled to a 7-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Concordia at Courts Plus.
 
"This was a big win for the guys," said Saint Mary's men's tennis coach Jeff Halberg, whose Cardinals snapped a three-match losing streak with the win — their first conference victory of the season. "It was a great team win — everyone played very well."
 
Saint Mary's grabbed the early advantage — thanks to doubles wins by Brandon Kurilla (Hastings, Minn.) and Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) at No. 1, and Peter Quinn (Lake Elmo, Minn.) and Caden Rodning (Mason City, Iowa) at No. 3. SMU nearly had a clean sweep of the three doubles matches, but E.J. Hietala (Duluth, Minn.) and Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.) came out on the short end of a marathon, 8-7 (5) decision at No. 2.
 
Leading 2-1 heading into singles, the Cardinals quickly took control, getting straight-set wins by Janssen, Hietala, Quinn, and Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.) — including a 6-0, 6-0 win by Hietala at No. 3 — while Kurilla added a hard-fought, 7-6, 4-6, 10-2 win by Kurilla at No. 1.
 
The Cardinals (1-3 MIAC, 6-10 overall) are back in action next weekend with a pair of conference contests. Saint Mary's will head to the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 2 p.m. showdown against Macalester, before returning home to the Winona Tennis Center for a 1 p.m. match against Bethel the following afternoon.
 
 
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