The Tournament Field:
From the MIAC: St. Olaf (15-2 Overall), Saint Mary's (12-5 Overall), Carleton (9-4 Overall), Augsburg (10-7 Overall)
From the IIAC: Cornell (15-3 Overall), Luther (13-4 Overall), U. of Dubuque (8-9 Overall), Buena Vista (1-13 Overall)

SMU's Schedule:

Friday, Oct. 2: vs. Cornell (4 p.m.), vs. Luther (8 p.m.)
Saturday, Oct. 3: vs. U. of Dubuque (1:30 p.m.), vs. Buena Vista (3:30 p.m.)

Last Meeting vs. Opponents: Friday's tournament-opener will be the first-ever meeting between SMU and Cornell. … The Cardinals and Luther squared off early this season, with SMU coming away with a 3-0 victory at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic. … SMU and the University of Dubuque have not met since the 2006 season, when the Spartans collected a 3-0 victory in the final match of the U. of Dubuque Tournament. … SMU and Buena Vista have not faced each other since 2004, when the Cardinals swept the Beavers 3-0 at the UW-La Crosse Tournament.

Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) collected a season-high 19 kills to lead the Cardinals' to their second straight MIAC win Wednesday. … Mate was one of four SMU players with 10 or more kills vs. the Knights. … Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.), who had 16 kills vs. Carleton, leads the team with 186 kills and is one of five SMU players with 100 or more kills this season. … Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) recorded a season- and career-high 58 assists vs. Carleton Wednesday. It was the fifth time in her career that Cherwinka has recorded 50 or more assists. The 58 assists pushed Cherwinka's season total to a team-best 572. … Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.), who posted a career-best 12 blocks against Northwestern (Minn.) on Sept. 22, added three more blocks vs. Carleton and now leads the team with 79 blocks. … Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) collected 20 digs vs. the Knights Wednesday and has now had 10 or more digs in 14 of the Cardinals' 17 matches. Rasmussen has also eclipsed the 20-dig plateau seven times — including a career-best 27 digs (twice). Rasmussen now boasts a team-best 268 digs. … Courtney Runge (St. James, Minn.) is second on the team in both kills (167) and digs (181). … Last Saturday's win vs. Hamline marked just the second time this season SMU has won a match when losing the first set. The Cardinals have dropped the first set in all five of their losses. … The Cardinals are 7-2 when the match goes four or five sets — including 3-1 in five-setters. … Three of SMU's five losses have been by 3-0 scores.

Cornell Ram Notes: Cornell enters the tournament riding a nine-match winning streak, including 3-0 victories in each of its last three matches. … The Rams have lost just five sets during their current eight-match run. … Laura Dudgeon was named the IIAC Player of the Week for the third consecutive week, after guiding the Rams to a perfect 5-0 week last week, capped with a team championship at the Wheaton Invitational. In five matches, Dudgeon posted 62 kills, 17 total blocks and hit .400. She recorded a near-perfect .778 attack percentage with 14 kills on 18 attempts in a three-set victory over Dubuque last Friday. … Dudgeon, who leads the team with 222 kills, ranks third in NCAA Division III with a .469 hitting percentage. She leads the IIAC in kills-per-set at 3.8. … Dudgeon has helped guide the Rams to their best start to a season in more than two decades. … Hannah Boehmer boasts a team-leading 557 assists, while Caiti Hiladky has a team-best 221 digs. … Eleven of the Rams' 15 wins have been 3-0 sweeps. Cornell has played just one five-set match, beating Mount Mercy 3-2 on Sept. 17.

Luther Norse Notes: The Norse come into Friday's matches having won nine straight. Luther has not lost since a 3-1 decision to St. Olaf to open the UW-Stout Tournament on Sept. 11. … Three of Luther's four losses have come to MIAC opponents — St. Catherine (L, 3-0), Saint Mary's (L, 3-0) and St. Olaf (L, 3-1). … Emily Cory has accumulated a team-leading 222 kills (3.42 kps) and is one of three Norse with 100 or more kills. … Amanda Dietel and Taylor Hjerleid have shared the setting duties, with Dietel dishing out 268 assists, while Hjerleid has 222. Molly Morrissey has also chipped 136 assists. … Luther has four players with 100 or more digs, led by Grayce Hamlin's team-high 308. … Luther has played five five-set matches, and is a perfect 5-0.

University of Dubuque Spartan Notes: The Spartans picked up their second straight win on Wednesday with a 3-2 conference win over Coe. … Kristen Mortensen earned IIAC Defensive Player of the Week last week, after posting 94 digs (5.88 dps) in five matches. Mortensen reached double-digits in digs in four of the Spartans' five matches, including a season-high 38 in a four-set loss to Concordia (Wis.). … With 28 digs vs. Coe, Mortensen pushed her team-leading dig total to 382. She is one of five Dubuque players with 100 or more digs this season. … The Spartans enter the weekend with three players boasting 100 or more kills, led by Katelyn Herrman's 168 (2.67 kps). … Herrman also leads the team in aces (26) and blocks (35), while Sarah Gross is averaging eight assists-per-set in compiling a team-best 504 assists. … Five of the Spartans' nine losses have come in four sets. Dubuque has won four matches by sweep. … All eight of the Spartans' wins have come on the road.

Buena Vista Beaver Notes: After opening the season with a 3-0 sweep of Crown, the Beavers have dropped 13 straight. … Katie Vondrak, who collected 11 kills in Wednesday's 3-1 loss to Loras, leads the team in kills (121), kills-per-set (2.37), and is second in attack percentage (.152). … Kelsey VanDeer has dished out 382 of the team's 416 assists. … Sam Narveson leads the team with 18 aces and is one of five BV players with 10 or more service aces. … Buena Vista has three players with more than 100 digs, led by Cara Kreman's 208. … Six of BV's 13 losses have been sweeps, while also dropping five four-set matches and both matches that went the maximum five sets.