Contact: Emily Adlfinger, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970

Box Score

WINONA, MINN. (Feb. 23, 2020) – The Loras College men's tennis team (3-3) left it all on the court in Winona on Sunday but came up short against the St. Mary's University (Minn.) Cardinals (6-4), dropping a down to the wire contest by a score of 5-4.

The Duhawks held the advantage in doubles play after Tommy Linkenheld and Connor Pivnicka scored the first win at the No. 3 spot against Nolan Smiley and Josh Janssen, defeating the opponent, 8-3. The Cardinals tied it 1-1 at No. 2 doubles but Kevin Blomquist and Konnor Barth put Loras ahead 2-1 after defeating Trevor Smiley and Brandon Kurilla in a marathon 8-7 match.

In singles action, St. Mary's took back the advantage with two wins at No. 4 and No. 2, but Blomquist tallied a win at the No. 1 spot against Robert Sobczak, winning his match 7-5, 6-4. The Cardinals claimed another win at No. 5 and it came down to the No. 3 and 6 matches to determine the winner. Both Linkenheld at No. 3 and Eian Coad at No. 0 had to play catchup after losses in the first sets, but both came back to win the second matches and force a tiebreaker. Linkenheld outlasted Kurilla for a 3-6, 6-2, 11-9 victory but Coad came up just short in his match against N. Smiley, falling 0-6, 6-2, 9-11 which solidified the win for the Cardinals.

The Duhawks' play two matches on Saturday, Feb. 29 in Mount Vernon, Iowa against Cornell College and Milwaukee School of Engineering. Match play against the Rams starts at noon while the Duhawks face the Raiders at 3:00 P.M.