Saint John's returns to conference play at Saint Mary's this Saturday, March 17, in Winona. The match is scheduled for noon at the Winona Tennis Center.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (2-8, 0-3 MIAC) spent its spring break in Southern California collecting one victory in four of its matches. The Johnnies fell to Chapman (Calif.) 7-2 before reversing the score in their favor (7-2) against Caltech. Junior Fabricio Moncada (Managua, Nicaragua/Lincoln International Academy) improved to 9-3 with a win via super-breaker at No. 1 singles (3-6, 6-2, 10-6) in the nightcap against Caltech. Ian Hansen won at No. 2 (6-3, 7-5), while sophomore Joe Laue (St. Louis Park, Minn./Holy Angels) and junior Zach Shriwise (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) won at Nos. 3 (6-4, 4-6, 6-3) and 4 [6-4, 7-6 (7-5)] singles, respectively. Freshman Anh Doan (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) won at No. 6 with matching 6-3 scores. Moncada and Paul teamed up for an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles. Junior Trent Fader (Willmar, Minn.) and sophomore Connor Rust (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) tallied an 8-2 win at No. 3. The Johnnies dropped a pair of losses in the trip's finale against two nationally-ranked teams, No.6 Kenyon (Ohio) and No. 30 Occidental (Calif.).

DOUBLES: The Johnnies are just 8-24 in doubles competition so far this season and have used 10 different combinations at the three spots (Nos. 1-3). Hansen and Moncada rejoined as a tandem at No. 1, their first since the season opener, and won against Occidental. The two have a 13-13 career record as doubles partners.

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's (7-4, 0-0 MIAC) hosts Bethel for its conference opener tonight (March 16). The match is the first for SMU since it posted a 2-2 record in Orlando March 5-7. Michael Lunka and Bobby Steingraeber have won 11 straight matches as a tandem at No. 1 doubles. Lunka is also 7-1 at No. 1 singles, while Sam Puff is 10-1 at No. 3.

THE LAST MEETING: Saint John's won three matches in the super-breaker en route to a 9-0 win over Saint Mary's last April in Sartell. Hansen, the Johnnies' lone upperclassmen in singles competition, won his match at No. 2 with scores of 7-5, 6-7 (6-8) and 10-4. Rust won his match at No. 4 (6-3, 2-6, 10-7), while Shriwise earned a tough victory at No. 5 [7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 11-9]. Moncada, Laue and junior Willie Paul won their matches in straight sets. The Johnnies swept all three doubles matches: No. 1 (8-4), No. 2 (8-3) and No. 3 (8-4).