ST. PAUL, MINN. – After strong wins against nonconference opponents, the St. Catherine University tennis team opens plays its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) match of 2016 at Concordia-Moorhead this Saturday. It will also be the Wildcats first road test of 2016, as they team will leave the comforts of U of M Baseline behind for Fargo, North Dakota.

Before St. Kate's hits the road, there are four important things to know heading into the first MIAC match of the season:

 9 – Matches the Wildcats won against the Cobbers last year. St. Kate's defeated Concordia 9-0 for the first of three victories against MIAC foes. After beating the Cobbers, the Wildcats beat Bethel and Saint Benedict to finish fifth in the conference and qualify for the MIAC post season for the fifth consecutive year.

2 – Tiebreakers in the match between St. Kate's and the University of Northwestern last weekend. No. 2 doubles team Alicia Knoll (Waseca, Minn. / Waseca) and Jessica Duda (St. Michael, Minn. / St. Michael-Albertville) needed a 7-5 tiebreaker to beat the Eagles No. 2 doubles team 9-8 and preserve the Wildcats perfect 6-0 record in doubles play this season.

88 – Career wins for senior Mikinzee Salo (Brainerd, Minn. / Brainerd) in both doubles and singles play. Coming into the season, Salo had a 39-16 record in singles play and 47-8 record in doubles play. After the first two matches, her records have now improved to 40-16 in singles play, good for sixth all-time, and 48-8 in doubles play, which is the fifth best record in St. Kate's history.

6 – Home matches in the first half of the spring season. The Wildcats have four home matches left on the schedule against Martin Luther, St. Olaf, St. Thomas, and Saint Mary's before they head to Florida for their spring break trip. In fact, St. Kate's only away game in the first half of the spring season is against Carleton on February 28.