ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Saint Mary's University volleyball, coming off a 3-1 win over Northwestern (Minn.) in its final nonconference match of the season, kicks off a stretch of four straight conference road matches Friday, traveling to Macalester for a 7 p.m. match against the Scots.

Records:

Last Action: The Cardinals bounced back from a first-set loss to win three straight in beating Northwestern (Minn.) 3-1 Tuesday evening at the SMU Gym. Macalester, meanwhile, came up empty in its conference match against Hamline, falling to the Pipers, 3-0 in St. Paul, Minn., in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday.

Last Meeting: September 24, 2008: The Cardinals made quick work of the Scots in their conference meeting a year ago, needing just 80 minutes to dispatch of Macalester 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-23).

Cardinal Notes: SMU enters tonight's match ranked No. 4 in the first NCAA Division III Central Region Poll, released Wednesday. … SMU's 19 wins equal their victory total of a year ago and are the most since 2004, when the Cardinals went 21-10. … After playing in three straight five-set matches — 3-2 wins over Saint Benedict and St. Catherine, and a 3-2 loss to Concordia — the Cardinals moved to 6-1 in four-set matches with their 3-1 win over Northwestern Tuesday. … The Cardinals have now won two straight, nine of their last 10 and 11 of their last 13. … Tuesday's match was the final nonconference match — and the final home match — of the season for SMU, which closes out its season with four straight conference matches. … Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) recorded her 2,000th career assist on match point in Tuesday's win over Northwestern. Assist No. 2,000 was the 55th of the match for Cherwinka, who has now posted four straight 50-plus assist performances. … Speaking of career milestones, Courtney Runge (St. James, Minn.) collected eight digs vs. the Eagles Tuesday, moving to within 14 digs of 1,000 for her four-year collegiate career. … SMU posted season highs in digs (85) and kills (79) in their 3-2 win over St. Catherine on Oct. 14. The Cardinals' 79 kills are the most since recording 83 kills in a five-set, 3-2 win over Saint Benedict on Sept. 24, 2004. … Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.), who recorded a career-best 24 kills vs. St. Catherine on Oct. 14, finished with 16 kills vs. Northwestern Tuesday and has now had 16 or more kills in four straight matches. … Runge, Mate and Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) have all eclipsed the century mark in both kills and digs, with Runge boasting 244 kills and 292 digs, while Mate has 271 kills and 127 digs, and Gardner has totaled a team-leading 298 kills and 138 digs. … Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) leads the team in digs with 385 and is one of six Cardinals with 100 or more digs.

Macalester Scot Notes: With Wednesday's loss to Hamline, the Scots have now dropped seven straight — including the last five straight by 3-0 decisions. … Eleven of Macalester's 14 losses have been by 3-0 scores. … Fifteen of Macalester's 20 matches have been decided in three sets (the Scots are 4-11 in three-set matches). The other five have been four-set decisions, with Macalester going 2-3 in those five matches. … Three of Macalester's six wins have come on the Scots' home floor. Macalester is 3-10 on the road this season. … Majra Mucic is the team's offensive leader, boasting team highs in kills (170) and kills-per set (2.62). … Danielle Dweck and Steffanie Fisher have shared the setting detail, with Dweck collecting 240 assists, while Fisher has posted 189. … Macalester boasts four players with 100 or more assists, led by Glasha Marcon's team-best 180 digs. … Today's match is the first of three straight home matches to end the regular season for the Scots.