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Match Summary / GameDay Online

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Fresh off a disappointing performance in a 3-2 loss to Augsburg Friday night, Saint Mary's University volleyball coach Mike Lester didn't know what to say to his team in preparation for Saturday's match against St. Catherine.

So he didn't say anything.

And the silence was golden.

The Cardinals — led by Alex Nold (Spring Valley, Minn.), Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) and Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) — rebounded from that heartbreaking 3-2 loss in impressive fashion, steamrolling past St. Catherine 3-1 (30-17, 30-19, 28-30, ,30-20) in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match.

"I really didn't say anything to the team before the match to motivate them," explained Lester. "They were all disappointed in their performance on Friday, and they certainly didn't need any words from me — they just went out and played the way they are capable. They weren't about to have a repeat of Friday,

"(St. Catherine) was in a similar situation coming into today as we were — they dropped a match (Friday) that they probably should have won," Lester added. "I was talked to (St. Catherine coach Nicole Hess) before the match and we both agreed that they team that was able to bounce back from that disappointment would be the one that won the match."

And bounce back the Cardinals did.

Led by Nold (22 kills, .476 attack percentage and 7 blocks), Mate (13 kills, 13 digs) and Gardner (13 kills, 5 blocks), the Cardinals rolled through the first two games, before stumbling a bit with that 30-28 Game 3 loss. But the Cardinals regained their footing in the fourth game, completing the conference win with the 30-20 victory. Rachel Monterastelli (Wonder Lake, Ill.) — who became just the ninth SMU player to eclipse the 1,000-assist mark in Friday's match — dished out 52 assists vs. the Wildcats, while Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) finished with a team-leading 24 digs.

"Overall, I thought we put together a pretty solid all-around effort," said Lester, whose team now closes out its regular season with road matches at Carleton on Wednesday and at Gustavus on Saturday). "Offensively we were good, defensively we were good, we blocked well, we serve-received well … .

"Nobody was very happy with the way we played (Friday), but everyone can feel good about their performance today."