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Game Summary / GameDay Online

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team has been in its fair share of four-game matches.

In fact, 15 of the Cardinals' 27 matches have gone four games — with SMU boasting an impressive 11-4 record in those four-gamers.

Make that 11-5.

The Cardinals got out of the blocks in a hurry against the high-powered Knights — who came into the match with a gaudy 18-3 overall record and a No. 21 ranking in the latest AVCA national poll — winning the opening game 30-23.

From there, however, it was all Carleton, as the Knights won the next three games, 30-23, 30-15, 30-21, en route to the 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory Wednesday.

"We played very well in the first game — and played pretty solid in the second game as well, we just had a few too many hitting errors," said SMU coach Mike Lester. "Then in the third and fourth games, we seemed to let things get away from us a bit. (Carleton) started to serve a little more aggressively, and our serve receive broke down a little bit."

Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) led the offensive charge for SMU — which hit just .159 as a team in losing for the second time in its last three matches — collecting 16 kills and hitting .400, while Alex Nold (Spring Valley, Minn.) chipped in 11 kills and Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) added 10..Rachel Monterastelli (Wonder Lake, Ill.) chipped in 50 assists, eclipsing the 50-assist mark for the second straight match — and the seventh time this season — with Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) adding a team-leading 21 digs.

"It's hard to feel too good about a loss, but I thought we did some nice things tonight," said Lester, whose  Cardinals close out their season on Saturday, traveling to Gustavus for a 3 p.m. conference match. "(Carleton) is a very good team, and I thought we hung with them pretty well — especially in the first two games. We just weren't able to keep our game at that high level in those last two games."