DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men's and women's tennis teams will open the 2012 season on Saturday in the Burns Wellness Fieldhouse when they welcome Concordia College-Moorhead into town.

Match Times:
Men – Noon
Women – 3 p.m.


Men:

Last Action:
The Saints wrapped up their 2011 season by falling one point short from capturing their fifth consecutive Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Championship.

St. Scholastica Saints (2011 Record: 13-10, 10-0 UMAC)
Despite not winning the UMAC Tournament title, the Saints did win their 15th straight conference regular season title and extended their conference dual match winning streak to 95 in 2011 … They also had a program record 11-match winning streak at one point in the year … CSS lost two key players from last season in Brendan Anderson (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) and Tucker Combs (White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) … Anderson finished his career at St. Scholastica with the program record for career doubles victories at 53 and the most wins at No. 1 doubles with 29 … Anderson also won the No. 4 singles flight UMAC championship last season … Combs recorded 38 career doubles victories, which ranks him ninth all-time … However, the Saints do return some talent led by senior Jacob Engelstad (Thief River Falls, Minn./Lincoln HS) … Engelstad is currently eight wins away from tying the program record for career singles victories … He captured the conference's No. 1 singles title a year ago and teamed with Anderson to win the No. 1 doubles title … Another senior, Kevin Hilpert (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS) also returns after setting the program record with 20 doubles victories in 2011 … Hilpert also led the team with 14 singles wins last season … Hilpert joined forces with another returner Dylan Kelly (Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis South HS) to win the No. 3 doubles conference championship … Kelly, a sophomore this season, won 11 singles matches as a freshman … Other key returnees include senior Brian Lindberg (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown HS), who won eight singles matches last season and was named All-UMAC, and sophomore Cullen Combs (White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake HS), who won 14 doubles matches as a freshman … With the addition of talented freshmen James Mack (Portsmouth, England/Cams Hill School), Steve Aro (Eveleth, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert HS), Tyler Bates (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech), Dan Mauro (Thunder Bay, Ontario/St. Ignatius HS) and Cody Mauston (Virginia, Minn./Virginia HS) head coach Wells Patten is excited about where this team can go this season.

Concordia-Moorhead Cobbers (2011 Record: 8-10, 4-5 MIAC)
The Cobbers made their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Tournament since 2007 last season and for that head coach Troy Hanestad was named the MIAC Coach of the Year … Concordia returns one all-conference performer in Devin Larson … Larson teamed up with then senior Matt Edin to win 14 doubles matches last season … He also the top returning player in singles wins as he recorded five … 27 of the team's 39 singles victories last season were by departed seniors.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Concordia-Moorhead: 1-3)
The Saints lost their second consecutive match by a 5-4 score to Concordia last season in Moorhead. Hilpert won in both singles and doubles play and Lindberg won at No. 2 singles.


Women

Last Action:
The Saints won their 15th straight UMAC regular season and Tournament title last season, sweeping all nine titles in the tournament.

St. Scholastica Saints (2011 Record: 20-4, 10-0 UMAC)
Looking at the 2011 season statistically, it was one of the best seasons in program history … CSS ended the season on a 13-match winning streak, which is the second-longest in program history and reached 20 wins for the third time in program history and first time since 2006 … Its four losses were the fewest in a season in program history and its .833 winning percentage was also the program's best ever … The Saints extended their conference dual match win streak to 91 matches in the process and lost just one individual match all season against a conference foe … However heading into this season, head coach Wells Patten has some big holes to fill … Gone are departed seniors Callee Conda (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing HS (UW-Green Bay)) and Danni Sonnenfeld (Harris, Minn./North Branch HS) … Conda was named the UMAC Player of the Year last season, marking the eighth straight year a CSS women's netter earned that honor … In just three seasons as a Saint, Conda finished her career with the fourth-most singles victories (52) in team history … Sonnenfeld won a team-high 21 singles and 23 doubles matches last season … The 23 doubles wins were tied for the second-most in program history … She finished her career with best singles winning percentage in program history (.789) … She also had the most wins at No. 3 singles (19) than any other player in program history … The Saints also lost Amanda Hiatt (St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS), who won 17 singles matches in her freshman season and was an All-UMAC selection … Of those three, CSS lost 46-percent of their singles wins output and 42-percent of their doubles wins from last season … The Saints do return sophomore Hillary Bungarden (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing HS), who won 20 singles matches as a freshman, all consecutively after dropping her first collegiate match … Bungarden is the lone all-conference performer returning … Other key returnees who will have to step up this season are Megan Lawrence (Park Rapids, Minn./Park Rapids HS), Jill Kammerer (St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS), Kelli Johnson (Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS), Pamela Hartley (Lima, Peru/Franklin Roosevelt College) and Aleksandra Ochrymowicz (Winnipeg, Manitoba/St. Mary’s Academy) … Newcomers include Rachael Zwiener (St. Cloud, Minn./Home School), Cortne Solberg (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji HS) and Alexis Gunderson (Virginia, Minn./Virginia HS).

Concordia-Moorhead Cobbers (2011 Record: 7-11, 3-7 MIAC)
The Cobbers just missed the MIAC Tournament for the second consecutive year in 2011 after finishing in a tie for the final spot, but losing out to a tiebreaker … Concordia returns two all-conference seniors in Katie Edin and Andrea Rognlien … Both Edin and Rognlien went 12-6 in singles action … Rognlien was also an all-conference performer as a freshman, but missed her sophomore season due to injury … The Cobbers lost just three seniors from last year's team with Melanie Gail the lone significant loss, so the Cobbers look to progress towards the top of the MIAC this season.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Concordia-Moorhead: 2-3)
The Saints edged the Cobbers 5-4 last season in Moorhead. Bungarden won in both singles and doubles action.