WINONA, Minn. – The Bethel University men's tennis team traveled to Saint Mary's University on Saturday for an important conference matchup and impressed with a 9-0 victory.  They are now 15-3 on the season and have won eight matches in a row.  The conference victory provided a huge boost, as five of their last six matches will be played against MIAC opponents, a stretch which will determine whether or not the Royals qualify for the postseason.

"Today was a big confidence win for us against a quality team in the conference. Our hope is to carry this momentum throughout the remainder of the season," said head coach Drew Fernelius.

Despite a dominating final box score, the match against SMU—a team that defeated the Royals 5-4 one year ago—was much more competitive than it may have appeared. The Royals grinded out a sweep of the doubles matches after taking an 8-6 victory behind the efforts of Matt Schull and Luke Palmquist. They would go on to finish off two more tight doubles matches before heading into singles with the 3-0 lead.

Matt Schull led off singles play with a 12-10 win in the third-set tiebreaker to maintain the momentum for the Royals. His teammates followed with comfortable wins in each of the remaining matches, none of which went to a third set.  While clinching the team win early on in singles play, the Royals fought hard to get the 9-0 triumph after battling through a couple tiebreaks.

With just six matches remaining, the Royals are looking to continue their win streak against another group of MIAC playoff contenders. They will be back on their home court next Saturday to face Saint John's University as they look for their ninth straight win. The match is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Ona Orth Athletic Complex.