Fargo, ND. – The Saint Scholastica men's tennis team headed westbound to Fargo, ND., to compete in another MIAC Conference match against the Cobbers of Concordia University. Today's Conference match saw the Saints drop a closely contested match against the Cobbers, coming up short, 5-4. 

How it Happened

Doubles
Jonas Abeleda (Sydney, Australia/St Aloysius' College) and Eamon Gerrard-Stace (Brisbane, Au./St Joseph's Nudgee College) were the openers for the Saints today, competing at No. 1 doubles. Unfortunately, they were unable to start strong, dropping their match 4-8. 

Dane Patten (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) and Jack Onkka (Thief River Falls, Minn./), along with Reece Patten (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) and Alex Daigneault (Agua Dulce, Calif./Hart HS), competed strongly in the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches. Both Saint duos were successful in their efforts earning the doubles point for the Saints. D. Patten and Onkka ended a closely contested match with a score of 8-7. R. Patten Daigneault finished, scoring 8-5. 

Singles
Brothers Dane Patten (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) and Reece Patten (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) were the only two Saints who were successful in their singles matches. Dane, who competed at No. 2 singles, concluded his match swiftly, scoring 6-3, and 6-2. Reece, who was in No. 6 singles, also found himself victorious after two sets, rounding out the day, scoring 7-5 and 6-4. 

Abeleda did not make it easy for the Cobbers in his match. While it was over in two sets, he maintained a close margin of victory in both, falling with scores of 4-6 and 6-7. Harper Dircks (Hopkins, Minn./) also fought hard against the Cobbers offense; he too, kept the margin of victory close, finishing with scores of 2-6 and 5-7. 

Gerrard-Stace, who competed at No. 3 singles, found his match against the Cobbers to be difficult. After two sets, he ended with scores of 0-6 and 4-6. Andy Schaffer was at No. 5 singles and did not fare much better. After two sets, the scores were 0-6 and 2-6.

What's Next
The Saints (6-6, 2-3 MIAC) will once again be hosting a MIAC Conference match, this time against the Cardinals (7-11, 0-0 MIAC), on Saturday, April 5. The time of the match is yet to be determined. Please stay tuned for further updates. 

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