Match Summary

WINONA, Minn. — Midway through the second game of Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match, Mike Lester must have felt like turning to assistant coach Jamie Bunt and asking her to pinch him — to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

After all, the first two games of Saturday's match against Concordia looked eerily similar to the start of Friday's 3-0 conference loss to St. Benedict.

The Blazers, who had entered Friday's match ranked No. 15 in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll, pulled away from the Cardinals in Game 1 using an 8-0 run to turn a 16-10 game into a 24-10 rout. And it was more of the same in Game 2, as CSB scored 10 of the first 11 points and led 23-5 en route to the 2-0 lead. SMU finally got on track in the third game, taking its first lead of the night — 28-27 — and led 29-27, only to have the Blazers score the final four points to seal the win.

'"It was like an instant replay of Friday night," said Lester. "Our main focus coming into (the Concordia match) was to make sure we got off to a good start. Instead, we dug ourselves into another hole."

SMU gave up 17 of the final 24 points in losing Game 1, 30-20, and never fully recovered in falling to the Cobbers 3-1 (30-20, 30-23, 28-30, 30-20) at the SMU Gym.

"We were our own worst enemy all day," said Lester. "If you look at the numbers: Concordia had 54 kills, we had 54 kills; they had nine aces, we had six; they had 11 blocks, we had six; they had 22 (attack) errors — we had 41.

"That's the difference in the match right there — we couldn't keep the ball in the court," Lester added. "Take away their 11 blocks, and that means there were 31 balls that we either hit into the net or out of bounds — and you can't do that against a team that's ranked 16th in the country."

The Cobbers appeared to have things well in hand, winning Games 1 and 2 handily, but the Cardinals were not about to go down without a fight, rallying from a 20-13 deficit to win Game 3, 30-28.

"That game once again proved that if we play the way we are capable of playing, we can play with anyone," said Lester. "Our problem is, we can't seem to sustain that level for an extended period of time."

Fresh off that Game 3 win, the Cardinals promptly fell into an 8-0 hole to begin Game 4. SMU pulled to within one, 8-7, but the Cobbers rattled off six more points to take a 14-7 lead and never looked back.

"We are a very good point-scoring team – our problem is, we are not a very good side-out team right now," Lester said. "Teams are able to put together too many big runs against us — which was very evident today.

"I thought overall, we played much better today than we did (Friday) — but we've still got a ways to go."