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Game Summary vs. Macalester / GameDay Online

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team has played two Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches in 2008 — and have taken two very different paths to the same result.

A Cardinal victory.

SMU opened its conference schedule last Wednesday, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to beat Hamline 3-2.

A week later, the Cardinals returned to conference play, and took a far different route to their second straight win, need just 80 minutes to hand host Macalester a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-23) setback.

"I thought we did a good job tonight," said SMU coach Mike Lester. "I felt like we were in control of the match the whole time, but we never really put them away — we let them hang around and that can be a bit nerve-wracking."

Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.), who recorded a career-high 21 kills in SMU's win vs. Hamline last week, picked up right where she left off, leading the Cardinals with a match-best 15 kills and a remarkable .667 attack percentage. Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) chipped in 13 kills, while Brittany Cherwinka (Fairbault, Minn.) dished out 38 assists and Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) collected 21 digs.

With the victory, the Cardinals improved to 2-0 in the MIAC and 10-6 overall. SMU, which has played seven straight road matches, finally returns home on Saturday, playing host to Bethel in a 3 p.m. match.

"It's going to be really nice to finally play a home match again," said Lester, whose team hasn't played at home since going 2-2 during the Jefferson's Sugar Loaf Classic on Sept. 5-6. "But in the same respect, for us to go out and win two conference matches on the road — that's huge. No matter who the opponent, playing on the road in the MIAC is tough."