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WINONA, Minn. — If there was one thing that could be said about the Saint Mar's University volleyball team's performance during the second day of the Jeferson's Sugar Loaf Classic, it's that the Cardinals were consistent
Two matches, two 3-1 decisions — with the winning team winning sets 1, 2 and 4.
Unfortunately for SMU coach
Mike Lester, those two matches resulted in a split, as the Cardinals dropped a 3-1 decision to Loras in their final match in pool play, then bounced back to beat Northland 3-1 in their final match of the eight-tournament tourney.
"It was good to see us bounce back and play well against Northland — it was a nice way to cap off the tournament," said Lester, whose team had its season-opening six-match winning streak halted by the University of Chicago,
3-0, on Friday. "We were able to get a lot of people a lot of playing time, and I think more than anything, we were able to boost everyone's confidence a bit.
"There were a lot of people who played in the Marian match (a tournament-opening,
3-1 SMU win) who were a little disappointed in the way they played," Lester added. "Today, those people got another chance and really did a nice job."
Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) led the way for the Cardinals against Northland, collecting a match-high 16 kills, while hitting a whopping .394. Kujak was one of 10 different SMU players to record at least one kills, as the Cardinals hit .288 as a team.
Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) just missed recording her second 50-plus assist performance of the season, settling for 49 assists and 11 digs.
Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) chipped in 17 digs, while
Lindsey Legatt (Sartell, Minn.) had 12 digs.
In their opener against Loras,
Jessica Larson (Pine Island, Minn.) and
Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) led the SMU offense, collecting 10 kills each. Cherwinka finished wiht 31 assists and Perrini tallied a season-best 26 digs.
"This toiurnament was all about a total team effort," said Lester, whose team returns to action Tuesday, traveling across town to take on Winona State, before heading to Waverley, Iowa, to face Coe, Wartburg, Simpson and UW-La Crosse at the Wartburg Invitational. "And I think we can come away from this tournament feeling pretty good.
"Sure, we would have liked to have won the whole thing, but we played pretty well all weekend, so I'm happy with the end result."
