Match Summary

ELMHURST, Ill. — There was nothing easy about the Saint Mary's University volleyball team's first two matches of the Elmhurst Tournament Friday evening.

The Cardinals opened the tournament with a hard-fought 3-1 win over the University of Chicago, then opened round two with a 30-24 win over 24th-ranked Elmhurst. The Bluejays, however, put an end to the Cardinals' charge, winning three straight games to take a 3-1 win and leave SMU with a 1-1 record after the opening day of the two-day tournament.

"It was a good start for us," said SMU coach Mike Lester. "We played very well and I'm happy with the effort that we put forth.

"I thought we played extremely well (against Chicago) in the opener, and then came out strong in the second match against Elmhurst," said Lester. "Realistically, we could have come away with two wins, but in that second match (against Elmhurst), we gave away a point here-and-there, and against a team like Elmhurst, those points are the difference between a win and a loss."

Molli Dant (Forest City, Iowa) led the way for the Cardinals, collecting 15 kills against Chicago and 11 against Elmhurst, while Carolyn Kiefer (New London, Wis.) dished out 47 assists vs. Chicago and Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) tallied 18 digs vs. Elmhurst.

"I'm very encouraged by our performance," said Lester. "I think that we kicked our season off on the right foot. Sure, it would have been nice to put together two wins, but to go 1-1 against quality teams like that, I'm happy with that."