ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team, coming off a 2-2 showing at the Simpson Invitational last weekend in Indianola, Iowa, return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play Wednesday, traveling to Concordia University's Gangelhoff Center. for a 7:30 p.m. match against nationally ranked St. Thomas.

Last Action: The Cardinals finished their third tournament in as many weekends by going 2-2 at the Simpson Invitational last weekend. SMU opened with back-to-back 3-0 losses to Nebraska Wesleyan and Simpson, then bounced back with a 3-2 win over Northwestern (Minn.) and a 3-0 triumph over Bethel. St. Thomas, meanwhile, pushed its season-opening winning streak to 10 straight with a 3-0 win over 18th-ranked LaVerne (Calif.) Friday at the Washington Invitational in St. Louis, Mo., but then dropped a pair of 3-2 matches to top-ranked Juniata and seventh-ranked Washington (Mo.) on Saturday.

Last Meeting: Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008: Courtney Runge (St. James, Minn.) and Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn) each posted 14 kills, while Gardner added 14 digs and three blocks, while Runge chipped in 10 digs and a pair of blocks, but it was not enough as the Tommies handed SMU a 3-1 conference setback in St. Paul, Minn.

Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: For the third straight week, Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) collected all-tournament honors, as the junior was SMU's representative on the Simpson Invitational All-Tournament Team. Gardner earned similar honors at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic and the Wartburg Tournament. … Gardner collected a team-best 42 kills (3.00 kps) and hit .221 in SMU's four tournament games last weekend. She also recorded 12 assists, four aces, 18 digs and 11 blocks. … Gardner now leads the team in kills (157 / 3.02 kps). … Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) posted a career-best 12 blocks against Northwestern (Minn.) last Saturday, pushig her team lead to 59 blocks. … Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) finished with 120 tournament assists last weekend, while Tara Rasmusen (Kasson, Minn.) boasted 54 digs. … Last Wednesday's loss to Augsburg snapped the Cardinals' eight-match winning streak. The streak was the fourth-longest in program history. Saturday's win over Northwestern, meanwhile, put an end to SMU's three-match losing streak. … Courtney Runge (St. James, Minn.) has recorded a double-double (kills and digs) in eight of the team's 14 matches. … Cherwinka's 50 assists vs. Augsburg last Wednesday were two shy of her career-best and marked the fourth time in her career the senior setter has recorded at least 50 assists. … Saturday's win vs. Northwestern marked the first time this season SMU has won a match when losing the first set. The Cardinals have dropped the first set in all four of their losses.

St. Thomas Tommie Notes: The Tommies enter tonight's match ranked No. 6 in the latest AVCA Top 25. They are one of four MIAC teams — with Gustavus, Concordia and Saint Benedict — nationally ranked. UST has been in AVCA Top 25 for 49 consecutive polls, including a conference-best 42 consecutive times in the top 15. … The Tommies, who have won their last 30 straight conference matches, had their season-opening 10-match winning streak snapped vs. top-ranked Juniata last Saturday. … Both of UST's losses have come to nationally ranked teams, and both were by 3-2 scores. Over the last three seasons, St. Thomas is 57-2 in matches decided in three and four sets, and 9-8 in matches extended to five. … Junior setter Emily Foster earned All-America honors last season. Since she joined the program in 2007, the Tommies are 31-0 against MIAC opponents and 66-10 overall. In 74 career matches (278 sets), Foster has 3,281 assists and is on pace to shatter the MIAC career record. … Over the last four seasons, St. Thomas has the eighth-best won-loss record out of 350-plus teams in Division III. The Tommies' 125-24 record since 2005 includes a 51-5 record vs. MIAC opponents. … Last year's 28-3 overall record and .903 winning percentage were among the top in all divisions of college volleyball. …