Match Summary vs. GAC / GameDay Online

ST. PETER, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University volleyball team dropped the opening set of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal match against second-seeded Gustavus Thursday, SMU coach Mike Lester wasn't too worried.

After all, the Cardinals managed just 13 points in the first set of their opening-round match against third-seeded Saint Benedict — then preceded to knocked off the nation's 19th-ranked team in five sets (13-25, 25-23, 26-24, 19-15, 15-13).

When the Cardinals dropped the second set against the 18th-ranked Gusties, however, Lester knew his team might be in trouble.

And, unfortunately for the Cardinals, they were, as Gustavus — for the second time in less than a week — rolled to a 3-0 (27-25, 25-16, 25-17) win over SMU.
 
Unlike their 3-0 setback on Nov. 1 in the teams' regular-season conference finale, however, Thursday's loss was a much tougher pill to swallow.

"It's tough to end the season like that, but we are leaving the gym with our heads held high," said Lester. "The ladies played hard, they gave it all they had and left everyone out on the court. We just weren't able to get the job done."

The first set was a see-saw affair from start to finish, with neither leading by more than three points, and the set tied nine different times — including 19-19, 20-20, 21-21, 23-23, 24-24 and 25-25. SMU had a chance to put the set away, leading 25-24 on a kill by Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.), but Gustavus responded with three straight points — including a set-clinching kill by Nicki Ainsworth — to seal the 27-25 win.

"That first set was the match," said Lester. "We had our chances — we had set points at 24-23 and 25-24, but couldn't get the ball to bounce our way. It certainly wasn't for a lack of effort. This team played so well from start to finish — it just wasn't out night."

GAC took control midway through set two, breaking a 10-10 tie with eight of the next 10 points to take an 18-12 advantage, and never looked back in rolling to the 25-16 victory and a commanding 2-0 lead.

And things just went from bad to worse in the third set for the Cardinals.

Leading by just one, 7-6, Gustavus used a 12-2 run to push its lead to 19-9. SMU cut the gap to six, 21-15, but it was too little, too late, as the Gusties held on to win for the 11th straight time — and earned a spot in the conference tournament title match Saturday.

Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) led the way for the Cardinals, collecting 11 kills, six digs and two blocks, while Courtney Runge (St. James, Minn.) added eight kills, 16 digs, and two blocks. Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) dished out 29 assists in the losing effort, with Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) closed out her collegiate career with 30 digs. With her 30 digs, Perrini finished with a single-season record 721 digs, while also pushing her all-time career record to 2,183 digs.

The Cardinals closed out the season with a 19-12 overall record, their highest win total since going 21-10 in 2004, which, ironically, was the last time SMU had qualified for the MIAC Tournament.

"I'm proud of what this team has accomplished," said Lester. "Nobody on this team wanted the season to come to an end, but we made some great strides this season, and, hopefully, we can pick up right where we left off when we return to the court next fall."