Winning Sugar Loaf title twice as nice

Donny Nadeau, SMU Sports Information Office

Match Summary

WINONA, Minn. — For the Saint Mary's University volleyball team, winning their home tournament was nice, but beating Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival Hamline in the process is twice as nice.

The Cardinals completed a perfect run through the two-day Sugar Loaf Classic Saturday, knocking off the Pipers in convincing fashion, 30-20, 25-30, 30-22, 30-17 to claim their first tournament title since 2000.

"Anytime you get a chance to knock off another conference team, it's nice," said SMU coach Mike Lester. "But more than anything, just the fact that two MIAC schools were in the finals says a lot about how difficult the MIAC is this season. Hamline was picked (by the conference coaches) to finish 11th out of 12 teams this year, and yet, here they are in the finals. Just having them make the finals is not only a testament to how well they played this weekend, but also to just out strong our conference is."

Yet, despite their impressive 3-0 run through the tournament's first three games, Hamline was no match for the Cardinals.

"I was very pleased with our play all weekend," Lester said. "Sure, we had some ups and some downs, but it's tough for any team to be at their very best for four straight matches.

"I thought our match against Waldorf last night (a come-from-behind 3-2 victory) was a huge step forward for us, and while we didn't play that well this morning against Finlandia (a 3-1 win), we were able to play a lot of different people and get them some experience," continued Lester, whose team has now won six straight since opening the season with back-to-back losses to nationally ranked opponents. "Hopefully this (tournament) is just another step in the right direction for us."

Kirstan Rouzer (Comstock, Wis.) led the way for the Cardinals in the title match, posting 15 kills, 26 digs and two aces. Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) chipped in 12 kills and five blocks, while Tracy Koertgen (Crystal Lake, Ill.) added 11 kills and four aces. Dingels' 12-kill performance was just the latest in an outstanding four-match tournament for the SMU junior, who was named tournament MVP after posting a whopping 61 kills, 10 aces and 15 blocks.

SMU and Hamline split the firs two games of their championship match in much the same fashion, as the Cardinals used an 8-1 start and never looked back en route to their 30-20 Game 1 win. Hamline turned the tables in Game 2, holding leads as big as 10, 19-9, before settling for the five-point, 30-25 win.

Games 3 and 4, however, were all Cardinals.

SMU scored 17 of the game's final 26 points in securing the Game 3 win, then left little double as to who would be the tournament's champion, scoring 10 of the first 12 points in Game 4 en route to the lopsided 30-17 victory.

"You have to give Tessa (Stranik) a lot of credit, she did a great job running our offense," said Lester of his junior setter, who joined Dingels on the all-tournament team. after recording 197 assists in SMU's four matches. "She and our middles are really beginning to click, and when that happens, we're tough to beat."

Hamline can certainly attest to that.

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