ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team cleared the first of two major hurdles standing in its quest for a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title Wednesday evening, as the Cardinals rebounded from an opening-game loss to beat Macalester 11-15, 15-6, 15-9, 15-5.

The Cardinals, Macalester, St. Olaf and Bethel all entered Wednesday's games deadlocked atop the MIAC standings with 5-1 records. Following the evening's action, only the Cardinals and St. Olaf remained on top, as the Oles (who beat SMU 3-1 earlier this season) matched the Cardinals' win with a 3-0 shutout of Bethel.

"We played a fantastic match," said SMU coach Mike Lester, whose team must now face Bethel on Friday in its effort to keep pace with St. Olaf. "Macalester came out really fired up. They took it to us in the first game, but our kids stayed pretty relaxed and calm.

"They played well."

Diane Wood (Los Alamos, N.M.) led the SMU attack, collecting 17 kills, four service aces and two blocks, while teammates Leslie Nicholls (Hastings, Minn.) and Amanda Edmond (Sandstone, Minn.) chipped in 13 and 12 kills, respectively, while Amber Rajtora (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) dished out 47 assists.