Match Summary
MORRIS, Minn. — If Saint Mary's University volleyball coach
Mike Lester had any concerns of an emotion letdown following Wednesday's streak-snapping 3-1 victory over Augsburg, his Cardinals quickly put those fears to rest.
The Cardinals put together one of their most dominating performances of the season in the opening round of the UM-Morris Triangular, as SMU cruised to a 3-0 (30-20, 30-14, 36-34) win over Crown.
"I was very happy with the way we came out and played at such a high level right from the start," said Lester, whose team had dropped three straight 3-0 decisions before last Wednesday's conference win over Augsburg. "We needed a match like this, one in which we were in control from start to finish."
(Mundelein, Ill.) and
Jessica Larson (Pine Island, Minn.) led a balanced SMU attack, recording 10 kills, while Pam Stanton
Molli Dant (Forest City, Iowa) each chipped in eight.
Breanna Benham (Deer River, Minn.) and
Carolyn Kiefer (New London, Wis.) shared the setting duties, posting 23 and 16 assists, respectively, while
Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) collected 12 digs.
"Crown gave us a lot of free points tonight," said Lester, noting that the Cardinals as a team collected 14 aces. "Over the past couple of weeks, that had been our downfall — we were giving teams too many free points — so it was nice to see us turn that around for a change."
