ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Saint Mary's University volleyball, coming off a quick, 3-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Macalester Friday night, are right back on the court Saturday, traveling to Bethel for a 3 p.m. conference match against the Royals.

Records:

Last Action: The Cardinals ran their winning streak to three straight Friday evening, as SMU breezed to a 3-0 victory over Macalester. Bethel, meanwhile, outlasted Augsburg in a five-set marathon, winning 3-2 — including 18-16 in the final set.

Last Meeting: September 19, 2009: The Cardinals and Royals have already met once this season, with SMU making quick work of Bethel, rolling to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-21) win during the second day of the two-day Simpson Invitational.

Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: SMU enters today's match ranked No. 4 in the first NCAA Division III Central Region Poll, released Wednesday. … SMU's 20 wins eclipse the 19 wins over 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 three straight, 10 of their last 11 and 12 of their last 14.  … 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. … Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) collected a team- and match-high 16 kills against Macalester Friday. … Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.), who recorded her 2,000th career assist on match point in Tuesday's win over Northwestern, finished with 38 assists vs. the Scots Friday. … Cherwinka's assist No. 2,000 was the 55th of the match vs. Northwestern, marking fifth time this season the senior setter has recorded 50 or more assists. … Cherwinka is now just 73 assists shy of 1,000 for the season. … Speaking of career milestones, Courtney Runge (St. James, Minn.) collected seven digs vs. the Scots Friday, moving the senior to within one dig 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, has now had 16 or more kills in four of her last five matches. … Runge, Mate and Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) have all eclipsed the century mark in both kills and digs, with Runge boasting 253 kills and 299 digs, while Mate has 275 kills and 128 digs, and Gardner has totaled a team-leading 314 kills and 141 digs. … Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) leads the team in digs with 393 and is one of six Cardinals with 100 or more digs.

Bethel Royal Notes: Friday's win over Augsburg snapped a two-match losing streak for the Royals, who hadn't won since a 3-0 victory over Luther during the opening day of the UW-Oshkosh Titan Tussle on Oct. 16. …  Amy Werner was named MIAC Hitter of the Week for her efforts last week. Werner helped lead the Royals to a 3-2 week, including a conference win over Gustavus, with their losses coming to #1 UW-Oshkosh and #9 St. Thomas. For the five-match week, Werner hit a very efficient .362, averaging 2.72 kills-per-set and nearly 1.0 block-per-set. She was named to the 10-person All-Tournament Team at the Titan Tussle — the only freshman so honored.