Match Summary

MOORHEAD, Minn. — As if watching their season-high losing streak climb to four matches with Friday's 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Saint Benedict wasn't enough, the Saint Mary's University volleyball team found itself back on the court again Saturday afternoon.

Against the fourth-ranked team in the nation.

Talk about the road not getting any easier.

The Cardinals, showing the ill effects of the emotional hangover from Friday's loss to Saint Benedict, came out flat against the Cobbers — and things just went from bad to worse, as Concordia cruised to a 3-0 (30-19, 30-11, 30-27) MIAC win.

"We just were not ready to play today," said SMU coach Mike Lester, whose team had opened Friday's match vs. Saint Benedict with a 30-28 Game 1 win, and were leading 29-28 in Game 2, only two lose the next three points — and the next two games — in falling to the Blazers. "We played such an emotional match (against Saint Benedict) — a match that everyone felt was one that we could have won — we just weren't able to get our game back to the level it needed to be at.

"Concordia is the biggest team in the MIAC and they just took it to us," continued Lester, whose team has now dropped five straight — and is still looking for its first win since a 3-2 triumph over Wartburg on Sept. 9. "I could tell in warm-ups that we weren't mentally ready to play, and that's not a good sign when you are going against a team as good as (Concordia.)."

Molli Dant (Forest City, Iowa) led the way for the Cardinals, collecting 11 kills and 12 digs, while Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) chipped in 19 digs.

"This is always a tough road trip for us," said Lester of the journey to St. Joseph, Minn. (home of Saint Benedict) on Friday and then on to Moorhead, Minn. (home of the Cobbers) on Saturday. "You have to be ready mentally and physically, and we just weren't able to do that two days in a row."