Match Summary vs. Marian /
Match Summary vs. University of Chicago
Jefferson's Sugar Loaf Classic Homepage /
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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team was treading in uncharted waters.
Thanks to Friday's tournament-opening, 3-1 win over Marian at the Jefferson's Sugar Loaf Classic, the Cardinals pushed their season-opening winning streak to six straight matches.
The last time an SMU team opened the season with a perfect 6-0 mark was 1977.
The last time an SMU team opened the season with a perfect 7-0 mark … never.
With a win over the University of Chicago in their second match of the two-day tournament at the Gostomski Fieldhouse, this year's team would be the first.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they ran into a great white during their wade through the Sugar Loaf Classic water, as the Maroons put an end to SMU's winning ways with a 3-0 victory.
"We didn't play all that well (against Marian), but managed to play well enough to get the win," said Lester, whose team cruised through its four matches at the season-opening Elmhurst Tournament with a pair of 3-0 victories and a pair of four-game, 3-1 wins, then followed that up with a 3-1 win against UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday. "But against Chicago, we did not play well at all — that was a match we just handed to them on a silver platter.
"(Chicago) is a good team, but we made them look better than they really are," Lester added. "We struggled to side-out in half of our rotations — you aren't going to win many matches when you on only solid with three of your six rotations.
"It was a good run (going 6-0), but maybe a match like (the Chicago one) will be a good wake-up call for us — we have to be better than we were today, it's that simple."
Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) led the way for SMU against Marian, collecting 18 kills, while also adding 10 digs and two blocks.
Emily Welhaven (Rochester, Minn.) added 11 kills, while hitting a team-best .400, while
Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) dished out 32 assists and
Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) tallied seven kills and six blocks.
Gardner and
Courtney Runge (St. James, Minn.) each had 10 kills against the Maroons, but as a team, the Cardinals hit just .193 with 39 kills. Cherwinka tallied 31 assists and Lindsey Legett
(Sartell, Minn.) posted a team-best 25 digs.
"It's tough to lose a match like (the one against Chicago), becuase we are a much better team than we showed," said Lester, whose team returns to Sugar Loaf play Saturday, taking on Loras in the final round of pool play at noon. "Hopefully we'll bounce back and get things back on track (against Loras)."
