MTEN | Dan Cardiff Era Begins, Saint Mary’s Opens Spring Season at Stanford

Tuesday, January 13

Stanford, CA

12:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

Stanford

So. Finn Dyer (left) and Sr. Pierre Lieutaud (right)

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

MTEN | Dan Cardiff Era Begins, Saint Mary’s Opens Spring Season at Stanford

1/12/2026 11:10:00 AM | Men's Tennis

MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's men's tennis team will kickoff their 2026 spring schedule with a dual at Stanford on Tuesday, January 13th. The Gaels will be led by first-year head coach Dan Cardiff who became the fourth head coach in program history after being hired this past July. Cardiff and his squad will compete in 14 non-conference matches including the annual Golden Gate Invite starting on Friday, March 6th. West Coast Conference action will start on Saturday, March 28th in a home match against Pepperdine, one of four home conference matches this season for the Gaels.

Saint Mary's went 2-5 in WCC action a season ago with their two wins coming in back-to-back fashion against Portland and Gonzaga. Those two wins would be enough to sneak into the conference tournament as the six-seed and set the stage for a matchup with Santa Clara as a three-seed. Despite a highly contested match, the Broncos came away with the clean sweep to advance to the semis and end Saint Mary's postseason run. The Gaels were able to qualify for the UTR Sports NIT championship in Georgia though to give them their first extended postseason appearance in over a decade. Saint Mary's made every match count as they defeated Morgan State and Rider University to advance to the championship match before falling to Chattanooga, 4-2.

This season, Dan Cardiff will take a veteran squad into the 2026 campaign as the Gaels will look for their second consecutive WCC Tournament appearance and seek their first conference tournament victory since 2013. Saint Mary's returns six of their eight current team members from a season ago including seniors Thibaud Maxant and Pierre Lieutaud. Bastien Maxant, Finn Dyer and Francisco Duran also return for their sophomore seasons after showing great flashes as true freshmen in 2025.

Tuesday's dual match with the Cardinal is slated for a 1:00 PM start and full match recap and results can be found at smcgaels.com. Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.

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