ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine tennis team is in the middle of a tough stretch to close out the first half of the 2016 spring season. The Wildcats have faced two of the top tennis teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) in the last two weeks, and they are about to face another this weekend. St. Kate's will play host to the University of St. Thomas Sunday at 8 p.m. at the U of M Baseline Tennis Center.

There's plenty of time before Sunday to catch up on all the numbers and stats the Wildcats tennis squad has been setting this season:

3 – Since February 28, St. Kate's has played three of the top teams in the MIAC. In the conference's Preseason Coaches Poll, the Wildcats were selected to finish fifth in the MIAC behind St. Thomas (1), Gustavus (2), Carleton (3), and St. Olaf (4). With their match against the Tommies, St. Kate's will have played three of those four teams in the past three weekends. That means the Wildcats will only have to face one team ranked above them in preseason in the month of April: the Gustavus Gusties, who were ranked second in the MIAC in the preseason poll.

40 - The Tommies were ranked No. 40 in the nation by the International Tennis Association (ITA) at the end of the fall season, and are currently tied with Gustavus as the No. 10 team in the Central Region. St. Thomas also has one player ranked in the top of the Central Region, as senior Bridget Noack is currently ranked No. 16 in singles play.

3 – St. Kate's won three matches against St. Thomas last season, one in doubles play and two in singles. Former players Kylie Ketcho (Eden Prairie, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) and  Maria Koval (Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) both earned hard fought wins at the singles level, while Ketcho and current No. 1 doubles and singles player Mikinzee Salo (Brainerd, Minn. / Brainerd) upset the Tommies No. 15 ranked doubles team of Bridget Noack and Kara Lefsrud.

3 – The match between St. Kate's and the Oles last weekend was a marathon match, starting at 8 p.m. and not ending until after 11 p.m. The match lasted well over three hours and unfortunately resulted in a Wildcat loss.

2 – The Wildcats earned two points in singles play in the 7-2 loss to St. Olaf last Friday. No. 3 singles player Angie Lorenzen defeated St. Olaf's Maya MacGibbon 6-4, 6-3 while sophomore Julia Sporer (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) beat Kellis Brandt 6-0, 7-5 at the No. 5 spot.

BONUS NUMBER: 1 – This Sunday, March 13, marks the beginning of Daylight Savings Time, so don't forget to mark your clocks and spring ahead an hour!