ST. LOUIS, Mo. — For the second day in a row, the Saint Mary's University squared off against a team they had never faced before.
Unlike Thursday's NCAA National Tournament opener against Thomas More, however, Friday's opponent's reputation preceded them.
Top-seeded and host Washington University in St. Louis has been a fixture in the NCAA National Tournament, entering Friday's NCAA Central Regional semifinal against the Cardinals boasting an NCAA-record nine national championships — not to mention 23 straight trips to the NCAA National Volleyball Tournament, including appearances in the NCAA championship match in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007.
The Cardinals knew all about the Bears' gaudy NCAA Tournament accolades — how could they not, with those nine national championship banners staring down at them from the Fieldhouse rafters.
What the Cardinals didn't know, was how to stop WU's high-octane offense, led by Erin Albers, as the Bears improved to 81-12 in NCAA Tournament play — including 35-2 at home — with a 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-18, 25-22 NCAA Central Regional semifinal win over SMU.
"It's really hard to be too disappointed, because I thought we played a great match — probably our best match of the year," said SMU coach
Mike Lester, whose team closed out its season with a 22-10 overall record — the most wins since the Cardinals won 27 games en route to their NCAA Central Regional semifinal appearance in 2000. "You never want to feel good about a loss, but this team can hold their heads high — they left everything on the court.
"Give (Washington University) credit, they are a very good team — but we had them on the ropes, and to be honest, a break here or there, and it could be us playing (Carthage) tomorrow in the regional final."
The Cardinals gave WU all it could handle right from the start, taking their biggest lead of the first set, 11-8, on back-to-back kills by
Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.). The Bears, however, went on an 11-5 run to replace that three-point deficit with a four-point, 19-15, lead – and WU never looked back in winning Set 1, 25-21.
SMU saw an early lead evaporate in Set 2, as the Cardinals jumped out to a 4-1 lead, only to see the Bears score four of the next five points to tie the set at 5-5. An SMU attack error gave WU a 6-5 advantage, and the Bears used an 8-2 run to take their biggest lead of the set, 16-10. Unfazed by the six-point deficit, the Cardinals rattled off nine of the next 11 points to regain the lead, 19-18. SMU pushed that lead to two on three separate occasions – 21-19, 22-20 and 23-21 – before finally getting back-to-back kills from
Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) and
Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) to ice the second set, 26-24.
For the third set in a row, the Cardinals recorded the first point of the third set. The Bears, however, took control early, building a five-point, 12-7, advantage. A well-timed timeout by SMU coach
Mike Lester helped shift the momentum, as SMU cut the gap to two, 12-10. The shift wouldn't last long, however, as WU score the set's last five points in winning 25-18.
The Bears picked up right where they left off to open Set 4, scoring four straight points - and building leads as big as six (11-5 and 15-9) and seven (16-9 and 17-10) – only to have the Cardinals whittle away at the lead, finally pulling even at 22-22. That, however, would be as close as SMU would get, as WU scored the match's last three points to seal the win, 25-22.
Gardner finished with a team-high 17 kills, while adding 11 digs and one ace. Kujak chipped in 11 kills and
Jessica Larson (Pine Island, Minn.) tallied 10.
Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) closed out her collegiate career with 35 assists, while
Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) and
Courtney Runge (St. James, Minn.) collected 21 and 12 digs, respectively.
"I can't say enough about how proud I am of this group — and it all starts with our seniors," said Lester, who watched Cherwinka, Runge, Larson and
Pam Stanton (Mundelein, Ill.) play their final collegiate matches Friday. "That (senior) group was the heart-and-soul of this team. Everyone just fed off their energy all season, and tonight was no different.
"This team never stopped fighting, they never gave up or threw in the towel. This was an amazing, collegiate volleyball match
"Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end of it."
