WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University men's tennis coach Jeff Halberg experienced a lot of milestones during the 2013 season.

And Wednesday, the veteran head coach reached yet another milestone, as Halberg was named the MIAC's Men's Tennis Coach of the Year, the conference announced.

“It's a great honor — and always nice to be honored by your fellow coaches,” said Halberg. “But to be honest, I got this award because of what the team did — I didn't turn into a tennis genius overnight. They put in a lot of hard work in the off-season and came into this year determined to make some noise.

“And that's exactly what they did.”

Halberg guided the Cardinals to their first berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament since the tourney went to the six-team format in 2007.

The Cardinals' sixth-place regular-season finish equaled their highest conference finish under head coach Jeff Halberg, while their 17 overall wins were also the most under Halberg.

With their wins over Wisconsin Lutheran, Concordia (Wis.) and Carroll, the Cardinals opened the season 3-0 for the first time in Halberg's 15 years at the helm. SMU's third win in that 3-0 start — a 5-4 victory over Carroll on Feb. 9 — was Halberg's 100th collegiate coaching victory.