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Tournament Results
WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University volleyball coach
Mike Lester has said that the early part of the season was going to be a work in progress — it was all about improving each time they took the court.
Friday afternoon during the opening match of the Jefferson Sugar Loaf Classic, the Cardinals did just that — they improved with each game.
After dropping the opening game of their opening match against Luther, 30-28, the Cardinas bounced back to win Game 2 30-23, Game 3 30-21 and Game 4, 30-22 en route to the 3-1 victory.
And the Cardinals picked up right where they left off in Game 2, as SMU cruised to easy, 30-16 and 30-17 wins in their first two games against North Park, before settling for a second straight 3-1 victory.
"We're very happy to be 2-0," said SMU coach
Mike Lester, whose team has now won five straight in pushing their overall record to 6-1. "I thought we came out and played at a high level for the majority of both matches. We were a little sluggish in the first game (against Luther) and we had a bit of a ledown in the third game (against North Park) — but other than that, we were solid."
Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) led the Cardinals' offensive charge, collecting a match-high 16 kills, while #Jessica Mate
(St. Charles, Ill.) chipped in 15 kills and 13 digs, and
Alex Nold (Spring Valley, Minn.) finished with 14 kills and four blocks.
Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) equaled her season high with 33 digs, with
Rachel Monterastelli (Wonder Lake, Ill.) posting a season- and career-high 56 assists.
Gardner was back at it against North Park, leading the way with 15 kills, while
Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) tallied 10 kills and nine digs. Nord chipped in a match-high eight blocks, while Monterastelli dished out 50 assists — marking the third straight match in which the freshman has recorded at least 50 assists.
"The best part about today was the fact that a lot of players were given the opportunity to perform, and
I thought — for the most part — they did a nice job," said Lester, whose team returns to tournament action Saturday, taking on Wartburg at 10 a.m. and ninth-ranked UW-Oshkosh at 2 p.m. "We are a much deeper team than we have been in the past, but that also means that our bench has to be ready to play at all times. We were able to put in a different lineup (in the third game against North Park), and I don't think they were mentally as ready as they need to be.
"That's about the only downside to the day — and if that's all that we did wrong, that's a pretty good day."
