Match Summary vs. Macalester /
Match Summary vs. Viterbo
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UW-River Falls Invitational Homepage
RIVER FALLS, Wis. — For the Saint Mary's University volleyball team, Day 1 of the UW-River Falls Invitational will be known as “The Sequel.”
And, fortunately for the Cardinals, “The Sequel” was every bit as good as the original.
The Cardinals, having already faced — and defeated — Macalester (3-0) and Viterbo (3-1) earlier this season, made quick work of those same two teams against Friday in the opening day of the two-day UW-River Falls Invitational, getting back-to-back 3-1 wins vs. the Scots and V-Hawks.
“It was a good start (to the tournament),” said SMU coach
Mike Lester, whose Cardinals snapped three-match losing streak with their opening 3-1 win vs. Macalester Friday. “It's always tough to have to face a team a second time — especially after having beaten then both — but I thought we played pretty consistent all night long.”
The Cardinals made it look easy in opening their match vs. Macalester with 25-16 and 25-15 victories, only to falter a bit in the third set, falling 24-26. SMU regained its composure — and its winning form — with a convincing 25-11 triumph in the fourth set.
It was more of the same against the V-Hawks, as SMU and Viterbo traded lopsided wins in the first two sets — the Cardinals winning Set 1 25-16, while the V-Hawks won Set 2 25-18 — before Saint Mary's put things away with 25-20 and 26-24 wins in Sets 3 and 4, respectively.
Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) led the way for the Cardinals in both matches, posting 12 kills vs. Macalester and 14 against Viterbo.
Courtney Runge (St. James, Minn.) chipped in 20 kills in the two matches, while Brittney Cherwinka
(Faribault, Minn.) notched 48 assists.
“We needed a performance like that,” said Lester, whose team closes out the tournament with matches against Loras and host UW-River Falls on Saturday. “We had played three really tough matches in the last week (3-0 losses to nationally ranked Saint Benedict and Concordia, and a heartbreaking 3-2 setback vs. St. Olaf on Wednesday), and really didn't have much to show for the efforts.
“Tonight we again put a solid performance together — and got to wins out of the deal.”
