Match Summary

ST. PETER, Minn. — It took a litlte longer than they had hoped, but the Saint Mary's University volleyball team locked up a home match in the first round of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament with a 3-2 victory over Gustavus Wednesday evening.

The Cardinals, who finished with an 8-3 record in conference play, will play host to Concordia-Moorhead Tuesday evening in the opening round of the six-team tournament. SMU (14-12 overall) was tied with St. Thomas for the No. 3 spot behind Bethel and St. Olaf in the MIAC standings, but due to the Tommies' 3-2 win over the Cardinals on Oct. 10, UST earned the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 seed St. Benedict in Tuesday's other opening-round match.

Bethel earned the top spot in the conference tournament and will play the Saint Mary's-Concordia winner on Friday, while St. Olaf will wait for the winner of the St. Thomas-St. Benedict winner.

Rhonda Thibault (Faribault, Minn.) and Kirstan Rouzer (Comstock, Wis.) led the way for the Cardinals against the Gusties, recording 21 kills each. Thibault, who hit .381, also added five service aces and three blocks, while Rouzer's 21 kills came on a team-leading .425 attack percentage. Tracy Koertgen (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) also finished in double figures in kills with 12 and 11 respectively. Koertgen also led the team with four blocks, while Leslie Nicholls (Hastings, Minn.) had 22 digs and Melissa Cowan (Algonquin, Ill.) tallied 62 assists.

SMU, winners of four straight, closes out its record season on Saturday, when the Cardinals travel to Viterbo for a nonconference match.