Match Summary

ELMHURST, Ill. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team got its season off to a roaring start Friday evening, sweeping its two matches in convincing fashion in the opening day of the Elmhurst Tournament.

Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) collected a match-high 20 kills as SMU cruised to a 30-21, 30-19, 30-18 win over Illinois Wesleyan in its opening match. The Cardinals then rode 11-kill performances from Dingels and Tracy Koertgen (Crystal Lake, Ill.) to a 30-10, 30-27, 30-28 win over nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh.

Dingels wasn't the only one doing all the damage in SMU's opener against Illinois Wesleyan, as Erin Coleman (Austin, Minn.) chipped in 14 kills, while Melissa Cowan (Algonquin, Ill.) tallied 45 assists.

Against the Titans — who were ranked No. 12 in the AVCA preseason coaches poll — the Cardinals hit a whopping .233 as a team and got 32 assists from Cowan and 11 digs each from Coleman and Kirstan Rouzer (Comstock, Ill.).