NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Saint Mary's University volleyball coach Mike Lester had every reason to be a little nervous heading into Saturday's two matches at the MIAC-IIAC Border Battle.

After all, the Cardinals were coming off a pair of impressive 3-0 victories over Cornell and Luther – snapping the Rams' eight-game winning streak and the Norse's nine-game run in the process.

Not to mention the fact that SMU's two Saturday opponents – University of Dubuque and Buena Vista – both entered with losing records.

The Cardinals followed up those back-to-back sweeps from Friday evening with their third straight sweep to open Friday's play, as SMU cruised to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-23) victory over the University of Dubuque.

SMU's bid for a clean sweep, however, was foiled with an opening-set, 26-24 loss to Buena Vista. The Cardinals quickly regrouped, winning three straight 25-10, 25-12, 25-14 to complete their perfect 4-0 run through the two-day tournament.

“It was a fun weekend,” said Lester, whose team has now won six straight in improving to 16-5 overall. “We played very well, against some very good competition, and that was really nice to see.”

Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) led the way for the Cardinals against the University of Dubuque, recording 10 kills, while Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) chipped in nine kills.

Against the Beavers, Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) was the team leader, hammering down 14 kills without an error, while also collecting 11 digs. Kujak finished with nine kills and three blocks, and Rachel Monterastelli (Wonder Lake, Ill.) finished with a season-high 46 assists and 10 digs.

“We needed a tournament like this – we really seemed to come together and play well for four straight matches,” said Lester, who had a pair of players – Gardner and Kujak – named to the all-tournament team. “Hopefully this will give us a good boost of momentum as we head back into conference play.”