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WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University women's tennis coach Jeff Halberg knew his squad was in for a tough haul to open the weekend with St. Catherine and Gustavus on the schedule on back-to-back days.

And, unfortunately for the Cardinal head coach, the Wildcats and Gusties were as good as advertised.

A day after dropping a 9-0 conference decision at defending regular-season champion St. Catherine, the Cardinals went up against perennial conference power Gustavus — with a similar outcome.

The Gusties dropped just one game in sweeping through the three doubles matches and picked up straight-set wins in all six singles matches in handing SMU a 9-0 conference setback at the Winona Tennis Center.

"It's been a tough couple of days," said Halberg. "I thought the ladies battled hard again today — much the same way they gave it everything they had (against St. Catherine on Friday) — Gustavus was just a bit too much for us today."

The Cardinals (2-3 MIAC, 5-4 overall) step out of conference play on Sunday, as SMU hosts Morningside (Iowa) in a 9 a.m. nonconference match at the Winona Tennis Center.