vs.
0		3

Game Summary vs. Concordia / GameDay Online

MOORHEAD, Minn. — On Friday night, the Saint Mary's University volleyball team took the court against Saint Benedict — a team that entered the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match riding a 10-match winning streak, not to mention a No. 25 ranking in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll.

On Saturday, the Cardinals were back in action, this time against Concordia — a team that entered the conference match having won seven of its last eight, and boasted a No. 15 ranking in that same AVCA Top 25 poll.

Talk about stepping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

And, unfortunately for the Cardinals, SMU got burned — twice.

Still reeling from Friday's 3-0 loss to Saint Benedict, SMU dropped its second straight conference decision Saturday afternoon, as the Cobbers held off the Cardinals 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-23).

But the Cardinals didn't give up without a fight.

“This was a great volleyball match,” said SMU coach Mike Lester, whose team dropped to 3-2 in the MIAC and 11-8 overall with the loss. “Concordia is a great team and I thought we played right with them. Every set went right down to the wire — we were right there each time, we just couldn't get over the hump.”

The Cardinals led early in the opening set, scoring the first three points, and holding that lead until Concordia rattled off seven straight points to turn a 17-15 SMU lead into a 22-17 Cobber cushion en route to the 25-21 victory.

SMU again scored first in the second set, but this time around, that would be the Cardinals' hold lead. Trailing by as many as seven, 14-7, the Cardinals would pull even twice — 16-16 and 17-17 — only to have Concordia score eight of the final 13 points for the 25-22 win.

The Cobbers struck early — and often — in the third set, racing out to a 5-0 lead. The Cardinals clawed to within one twice, 16-15 and 17-16, surrendered three straight points to fall behind 20-16, then went on a 5-2 run of their own to again cut the gap to one, 22-21. That, however, would be as close as SMU would get, as Concordia outscored SMU 3-2 down the stretch to ice the win, 25-23.

Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) was the Cardinals' No. 1 offensive weapon against the Cobbers, collecting a match-high 16 kills, while hitting .395 with 12 digs. Rachel Monterastelli (Wonder Lake, Ill.) — making her first appearance of the season after being sidelined with an ankle injury — dished out 39 assists, while Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) finished with 31 digs.

"We're coming home 0-2, but it's a good 0-2," said Lester. "Obviously, nobody likes to lose two matches like that, but one of the goals we had coming in (to the weekend) was, no matter what the outcomes, we need to make sure we play at a very high level — and we did that all weekend."

The road-weary Cardinals — who have played 10 of their last 11 matches on the road — are back on the road Wednesday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for an MIAC showdown with St. Olaf.