Summary vs. Wartburg /
Summary vs. UW-Oshkosh
GameDay Online /
Tournament Results
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team entered Saturday's final match of the Jefferson's Sugar Loaf Classic against UW-Oshkosh with an impressive 7-1 overall record — not to mention a six-match winning streak.
UW-Oshkosh, meanwhile, boasted an equally impressive 8-1 overall mark — and an eight-match winning streak of its own.
Someone's strreak had to give.
And, unfortunately for SMU, it was the Cardinals, as the Titans escaped with a 31-29 Game 1 victory, then took the match over, winning both Games 2 and 3 by 30-22 marks en route to winning the tournament title.
"We were pretty good today, (UW-Oshkosh) was just better," said SMU coach
Mike Lester of the ninth-ranked Titans, who did not lose a game in their four tournament matches. "We we play in our system, we're really good — as good as any team we are going to face. But when a team takes us out of our system, we struggle — and (UW-Oshkosh) took us out of our system more than any team faced."
Fresh off their third straight 3-1 tournament victory — this time against Wartburg earlier in the day — the Cardinals matched the Titans swing for swing in Game 1, only to have UW-Oshkosh break a 29-29 tie with two straight points to seal the win.
From there, it was all UW-Oshkosh, as the Titans grabbed early leads in both Games 2 and 3 and never looked back.
Racquel Reker (Mantorville, Minn.) and
Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) led the Cardinals' offensive charge against UW-Oshkosh with 10 kills apiece. Gardner, who had a match-high 17 kills in SMU's win over Wartburg, also chipped in three service aces, while
Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) collected 22 kills. Rachel Manterastelli
(Wonder Lake, Ill.) had her streak of four straight matches with 50 or more assists — including a 54-assist effort vs. Wartburg — snapped, as the freshman setter was held to 22 assists vs. UW-Oshkosh.
"I'm pretty happy with our performance," said Lester, whose team — with its 7-2 overall record — opens Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, playing host Hamline in a 7 p.m. match. "I've said it before and I'm sure I'll said it plenty of times in the future, but our goal is to improve every time we step on the floor, and I think we did that this weekend.
"We had our moments when we didn't play as well as we need to play, but overall, I thought we played at a very high level — it was a good starting point for us."
