ST. PETER, Minn. – The Saint Mary's University volleyball, coming off its second straight 3-1 loss, falling to St. Olaf in Northfield, Minn., on Wednesday, close out their regular season with a 1 p.m. conference match at Gustavus Saturday.
Records:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-5 MIAC / 20-8 Overall)
Gustavus Gusties (3-7 MIAC / 11-16 Overall)
GameDay On The Web: From Coach Lester /
Live Stats
Last Action: The Cardinals dropped their second straight 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference decision Wednesday evening, falling to No. 22 St. Olaf
3-1 in Northfield, Minn. Gustavus, meanwhile, is also coming off back-to-back 3-1 losses, having dropped a four-set,
3-1 decision to St. Thomas on Wednesday in St. Peter, Minn.
Last Meeting: The Cardinals and Gusties met twice last season, with Gustavus posting a pair of 3-0 victories.
November 1, 2008: The Gusties made things look that east in the opening set, rolling to a 25-14 win, before battling to 25-22 and 25-17 wins to complete the 3-0 MIAC win over SMU in Winona, Minn.
November 6, 2008: Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) picked up a team-leading 11 kills, but it was not enough, as Gustavus posted its second 3-0 win over the Cardinals in less than a week, knocking SMU out of the conference tournament with a three-set semifinal win.
MIAC Tournament Picture: Despite their 3-1 loss to St. Olaf on Wednesday, the Cardinals are still alive — albeit maybe not so well — heading into the final match of the regular-season. SMU (5-5 in the MIAC) is currently tied with St. Catherine for the sixth and final tournament berth — one game behind both Concordia and Augsburg. Win or lose in its final match, Concordia has already locked up a tournament berth, leaving Augsburg, SMU and St. Catherine to battle for the final two spots. SMU must win its final match against Gustavus to have any hope of earning a conference tournament berth. The Auggies, meanwhile, face St. Thomas (9-1), while St. Catherine goes up against Macalester (0-10).
Scenario #1: If SMU and St. Catherine win, and Augsburg and Concordia both loss, all four teams would finish 6-5. Augsburg and Concordia both went 2-1 vs. tied teams and Augsburg beat Concordia, giving the Auggies the No. 4 seed, while the Cobbers would be No. 5. SMU and St. Catherine both went 1-2 vs. tied teams, and SMU beat St. Catherine, giving the Cardinals the No. 6 seed.
Scenario #2: If SMU, St. Catherine and Augsburg win and Concordia loses, Augsburg would finish 7-4 and SMU, St. Catherine and Concordia would be 6-5. Augsburg would be No. 4, Concordia would be No. 5 (going 2-0 vs. tied teams) and SMU would be No. 6 (having gone 1-1 vs. tied teams).
Scenario #3: If SMU, St. Catherine and Concordia win, and Augsburg loses, Concordia would finish 7-4 and SMU, St. Catherine and Augsburg would be 6-5. Concordia would be No. 4. SMU, St. Catherine and Augsburg all went 1-1 vs. tied teams, meaning St. Catherine would be No. 5 (having a 5-3 set record vs. tied teams) and SMU would be No. 6 (having a 5-5 set record vs. tied teams).
Scenario #4: If Augsburg and Concordia both win, SMU and St. Catherine both lose, and Bethel wins, Augsburg would be No. 4, Concordia would be No. 5. SMU, St. Catherine, and Bethel would all be 5-6, but St. Catherine would be No. 6 (all teams were 1-1 vs. tied teams and St. Catherine had a 5-4 set record vs. tied teams).
Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: SMU enters today's match ranked No. 5 in the latest NCAA Division III Central Region Poll. … SMU's 20 wins eclipse the 19 wins over a year ago and are the most since 2004, when the Cardinals went 21-10. … Wednesday's loss to St. Olaf marked just the second time all season the Cardinals have lost two or more matches in a row. … St. Olaf handed SMU a 25-23 setback in the opening set Wednesday, marking the seventh time in the last seven matches that the Cardinals have dropped the opening set. … Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) knocked down a team-leading 14 kills in Wednesday's match vs. St. Olaf. The 14 kills pushed Gardner's team-leading kill total to 338 (3.16 kps). … Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.), who recorded her 2,000th career assist on match point in SMU's 3-1 win over Northwestern on Oct. 20, finished with 49 assists vs. the Oles Wednesday, giving the senior setter 1,023 for the season. … Cherwinka's career assist No. 2,000 was the 55th of the match vs. Northwestern, marking the fifth time this season the senior setter has recorded 50 or more assists. … Courtney Runge (St. James, Minn.) collected 11 digs vs. St. Olaf Wednesday, giving the senior outside hitter 1,016 digs in her four-year collegiate career, ranking her eighth all time. … SMU posted season highs in digs (85) and kills (79) in its 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 13 kills vs. St. Olaf Wednesday, has now had 10 or more kills in six of her last seven matches. … Runge, Mate and Gardner have all eclipsed the century mark in both kills and digs, with Runge boasting 271 kills and 322 digs, while Mate has 303 kills and 130 digs, and Gardner has totaled a team-leading 338 kills and 154 digs. … Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) leads the team in digs with 419 and is one of six Cardinals with 100 or more digs.
Gustavus Gustie Notes: The Gusties come into today's match on the heels of back-to-back 3-1 losses to Saint Benedict and St. Thomas. … GAC's last three opponents have all been against nationally ranked teams — No. 22 Concordia (3-0 win), No. 16 Saint Benedict (3-1 loss) and No. 10 St. Thomas (3-1 loss). … Olivia Warren leads the Gusties' offense, collecting 266 kills (2.66 kps) and is one of three players with 200 or more kills. Angela Ahrendt (249) and Meghan Gehring (227) are the other two, with Janey Helland one-kill shy at 199. … Malea Noennig has dished out a team-leading 815 assists, while Nicki Ainsworth leads the team in aces (38) and Erin Sherman has posted a team-high 374 digs. … Ten of the Gusties' 11 wins have come in three sets, while GAC is winless (0-7) in matches that have gone five sets.
