Match Summary

ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team entered Wednesday evenings Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season finale against Gustavus with dreams of earning a first-round bye in the opening round of the conference's post-season tournament.

All they had to do is beat the Gusties — and a win by Macalester in its match against Bethel — and the Cardinals earned the No. 2 spot in the conference, and that all-important first-round bye.

Even if Macalester couldn't beat Bethel, the Cardinals would still wind up hosting a first-round match with a win over the Gusties.

Just one measly win.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, someone forgot to give Gustavus a copy of the script before the match — because the Gusties certainly didn't follow it.

GAC, led by a match-high 19 kills from Tara Houlihan and Anne Oathus, posted a 3-2, 30-22, 25-30, 32-30, 26-30, 18-16 win over the Cardinals, leaving SMU in a four-way tie for third place in the final conference standings.

The loss not only dashed any hopes SMU had of earning a post-season tournament bye, but — because of the MIAC's tie-breaking system — it also means the Cardinals will open post-season play on the road, at Carleton on Tuesday night.

Kirstan Rouzer (Comstock, Wis.) and Tracy Koertgen (Crystal Lake, Ill.) led the way for SMU (7-4 MIAC, 20-9 overall), recording 18 kills each. Rouzer also finished with 32 digs, three blocks and five aces, while Koertgen pitched in four blocks and two aces. Mollie Melton (Oronoco, Minn.) hammered down 14 kills and boasted a .406 attack percentage, and Tessa Stranik (Eatonville, Wash.) dished out 52 assists.

The two teams traded game wins through the first four games, with Gustavus winning Games 1 and 3, while SMU evened things up with wins in Games 2 and 4. In the fifth and deciding game, Gustavus jumped out to a 6-2 advantage, but SMU rallied to score five of the next six points to tie the match 7-7. The Cardinals took an 11-8 lead, and had match points at 14-13 and 15-14, but they could not put the Gusties away.