LA CROSSE, Wis. — Saint Mary's University volleyball coach Mike Lester got exactly what he was hoping for out of Tuesday's season-opening nonconference match against Viterbo.

The Cardinals got that first match under their belt, they got to compete against someone other than themselves, and Lester got that all-important early season measuring stick.

What he, and the Cardinals, didn't get, was that first win of the season, as Viterbo raced out to a 10-2 Set 1 lead and never looked back, handing SMU a 3-1 (25-18, 16-25, 25-19, 2-25) setback.

“Well, there goes our perfect season,” joked Lester. “Viterbo is a solid team, and it was obvious tonight that they were the team with (six) matches under their belt and we were the team playing our first match.

“We talked after the match, and aside from the loss, this was exactly what we needed,” Lester continued. “Obviously we would have liked to come away with a win, but more importantly, we needed to play a match — we needed to see someone besides ourselves on the other side of the net."

Jess Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) led the way for the Cardinals, collecting 12 kills, while Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) dished out 29 assists and Erika Hurley (Chatfield, Minn.) tallied 13 digs.

“I thought we did some good things,” said Lester, whose Cardinals are right back in action Friday and Saturday, taking part in the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic at the Gostomski Fieldhouse. “But there are also definitely some things we need to work on — and we have two days to do it.”