Match Summary

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — When the final point was recorded Wednesday evening in their 3-0 (30-17, 30-19, 30-21) Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss to Carleton, Saint Mary's University volleyball coach Mike Lester must have breathed a sigh of relief as he left the court.

He didn't have to face the Knights again.

Or the Tommies.

Or the Cobbers.

Or the Blazers.

In a span of 12 days, the Cardinals have faced six MIAC schools, four of which — Saint Benedict, Concordia, St. Thomas and Wednesday's opponent, Carleton — are currently ranked in the AVCA Top 25.

Talk about trying to maneuver through an MIAC minefield.

The Cardinals — who sandwiched wins vs. St. Catherine (3-0) and Hamline (3-2) between losses to Saint Benedict (3-1), Concordia (3-0), St. Thomas (3-0) and Carleton over the past 12 days — were left spinning their wheels against the Knights.

Carleton scored the first two points of Game 1 and never looked back, leading 15-5 before scoring 15 of the game's final 27 points to win 30-17. SMU got a kill from Molli Dant (Forest City, Iowa) to start Game 2, but from there it was all Carleton, as the Knights scored the next five points and coasted to the 30-19 win.

The Cardinals matched the Knights point-for-point early in Game 3, holding leads of 2-1, 4-2 and 5-3, before Carleton tallied seven of the next 12 points to tie the game, 10-10. And once the Knights pulled even, it didn't take long for them to pull away, as they used a 10-5 run to make it a 20-15 game and then closed out the match with a game-ending 10-4 run.