U. of Dubuque Match Summary / Loras Match Summary

DUBUQUE, Iowa — The first time the Saint Mary's University and Loras volleyball teams met, the Cardinals found themselves trailing 2-1 after the first three sets, only to rattle off back-to-back wins in Sets 4 and 5 to earn a 3-2 victory at the SMU Sugar Loaf Classic on Sept. 4.

The two teams squared off again on Friday in the opening round of the MIAC-IIAC Border Battle on the Duhawks' home court.

And for the second straight time, the Cardinals found themselves staring at a 2-1 hole after the opening three sets.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, Sets 4 and 5 were a virtually mirror image of those final two sets from the Sugar Loaf Classic, as SMU evened the match at 2-2 with a 25-21 win, then completed the comeback — and the perfect 2-0 start to the two-day tournament — with a 15-13 win in the fifth and deciding set.

“That was a great match — very similar to the first time we squared off against them,” said Lester, whose 24th-ranked Cardinals opened the tournament with a 3-0 victory over the University of Dubuque and has now won its last six Border Battle matches over the past two years. “I think having played (Loras) in a five-set match earlier in the year helped us a bit — we knew we had the ability to come from behind and beat them, and everyone just went out their and did their job.”

The two teams split the first two sets, with SMU winning the first 25-20, only to have Loras respond with a 25-18 win in the second. The Duhawks boasted a 23-18 lead in the third set, before hanging on for a 26-24 win in a set that Lester feels was actually the turning point in the match.

“That third set said a lot about this team,” Lester said. “We battled back from a 23-18 deficit, only to lose 26-24. But after that set, I felt like we were playing pretty well, and were in pretty good shape going into the final two sets.

“It's great to see the way this team continues to battle no matter the situation,” added Lester. “We got things going a bit (in the third set) and it just gave us the momentum we needed.”

Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals against Loras, collecting 18 kills, while also hitting .333. Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) added 13 kills and Carissa Hahn (Hutchinson, Minn.) added 12. Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) finished with 25 digs — one of four Cardinals with 10 or more digs — while Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) dished out 47 assists.

In the Cardinals' tournament opener against the University of Dubuque, Gardner again led the way with a match-high 16 kills, while Mate was close behind with 15. Cherwinka tallied 31 assists and Rasmussen had 18 digs.

The Cardinals, who improved to 12-3 with the two tournament wins, are back in action on Saturday, playing Coe and Central-Iowa during the second day of the two-day Border Battle.