ST. PAUL, Minn. — It's not often that a coach has too many good things to say after a 3-0 loss, but Saint Mary's University volleyball coach
Mike Lester found plenty of silver linings following Wednesday's 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-20) Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss to St. Thomas.
“It was a good learning experience for our team,” said Lester, whose team had its two-match winning streak snapped with the loss. “St. Thomas is a very good team — there's a reason they are ranked No. 6 in the country — and we got a first-hand look at it.
“It's really not that we played that poorly tonight — in fact, I thought we played fairly well — it's just that (St. Thomas) was that tough,” Lester added. “There were times we had some great swings, and (the Tommies) would just make a great defensively play to keep the ball alive.
“And offensively, they are just so strong.”
Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) led the way for the Cardinals (0-2 MIAC, 10-5 overall), collecting six kills, while Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) dished out 16 assists and Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) finished with 12 digs.
Kyley Crotty paced the Tommies — whose only two losses this season have come against the nation's No. 1- and No. 2-ranked teams — collecting a match-high 17 kills, while Katie Bonine chipped in 12 kills and 13 digs. Kaitlin Wachter tallied 24 digs and Emily Foster recorded 36 assists for UST (2-0 MIAC, 11-2 overall).
“You hate to lose a match in three sets, but you have to tip your cap to St. Thomas, they played a great match,” said Lester, whose team returns to action Saturday, traveling to Hamline for a 3 p.m. match. “Our job now is to learn from this match, then put it behind us and focus on Saturday.”
