WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team, coming off a 3-1 win at Saint Benedict last Friday and a 3-0 loss at Concordia on Saturday, returns home for a key 7 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup against league-leading St. Olaf at the SMU Gym.



The Teams:
Saint Mary's Cardinals: 4-2 MIAC / 16-5 Overall
St. Olaf Oles: 5-1 MIAC / 18-4

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Last Action:
The Cardinals squared off against a pair of MIAC Tournament hopefuls last weekend, getting a match-high 19 kills from Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) in a 3-1 win over Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn., on Friday. SMU then came up empty in its conference showdown with 20th-ranked Concordia the following day, as the Cobbers dealt the Cardinals a 3-0 loss in Moorhead, Minn. St. Olaf, meanwhile, also went 1-1 in its two MIAC matches over the weekend, falling 3-0 at Bethel on Frdiay, then rebounding with a 3-2 victory on the road at Augsburg on Saturday.

Last Meeting — November 3, 2009:
Jessica Larson recorded a team-high nine kills, while Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) and Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) chipped in eight and seven kills, respectively, but it was not enough, as St. Olaf ousted SMU from the MIAC Tournament with an opening-round 3-0 win in Northfield. St. Olaf also got the better of the Cardinals in their regular-season meeting, handing SMU a 3-1 setback on Oct. 28 in Northfield, Minn.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
The Cardinals enter today's match trailing league-leaders St. Thomas, Concordia and St. Olaf by one game. SMU and Saint Benedict are currently tied for fourth in the race for one of the MIAC Tournament's six post-season berths. … Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) finished with a team-leading 38 kills in the Cardinals' four matches last week, while Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) and Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) were close behind with 33 and 30 kills, respectively. … With her 85 assists in SMU's four matches last week, setter Brittany Cherwinka moved past current SMU assistant coach Tessa Wagnild and into second in career assists with 2,840. … Gardner leads four SMU players with 100 or more kills, boasting a team-best 274, while Mate is second with 223, followed by Kujak (189) and Carissa Hahn (Hutchinson, Minn. / 137). … Kujak also leads the team in attack percentage at .311. … Gardner enters tonight's match vs. St. Olaf with 1,264 career kills. She jumped past Kirsten Rouzer and is now No. 6 all-time, just 41 kills shy of the No. 5 spot, currently held by Tracy Koertgen. … Sara Harstad (Chatfield, Minn.) posted a career-high 11 kills in the Cardinals' 3-0 win over Crown Wednesday, while Lindsey Legatt (Sartell, Minn.) notched 18 digs against the Storm. It was her highest dig total since recording 25 digs vs. the University of Chicago on Sept. 5, 2008. … SMU has four players with 20 or more aces, led by Gardner with 26 and Kujak with 25. … As a team, the Cardinals rank No. 2 in NCAA Division III in kills-per-set (14.02) and are fourth in assists-per-set (12.64). … With their four wins at the MIAC-IIAC Border Battle on Oct. 1-2, the Cardinals improved to a perfect 8-0 in Border Battle matches over the last two years. … The Cardinals' loss to Northwestern Wednesday evening snapped their season-high eight-match winning streak. … With their 3-0 win vs. Crown Wednesday, the Cardinals have now won via sweep in 10 of their 16 victories this season. … SMU is also a perfect 3-0 in five-set matches, thanks to two 3-2 wins over Loras and 3-2 victory over Central-Iowa.

St. Olaf Ole News and Notes:
The Oles enter tonight's match against Saint Mary's ranked No. 12 in the latest AVCA Top 25. … St. Olaf is 13-1 in its last 14 matches. The Oles had their 12-match winning streak snapped last Friday, when they dropped a 3-0 decision at Bethel. … St. Olaf dropped just eight sets during its season-high 12-match winning streak. … The Oles are unbeaten on their home court, boasting a 6-0 mark heading into tonight's home contest vs. SMU. … Two of the Oles' four losses have come in five-set matches. St. Olaf is 10-2 in three-set matches, while going a perfect 4-0 in four-setters and 4-2 in matches going the maximum five sets. … Kim Smisek has been the Oles' offensive leader, compiling a team-high 374 kills (4.56 kps), while also hitting .277. … Smisek is one of four Oles to have reached the 100-kill plateau — Ariel Carlson (192), Katie Wolfram (189) and Melissa Burch (172) are the other three. … Kelly Prunty is 93 assists shy of 1,000 for the season. Prunty also leads the team with 21 aces. She is one of five Oles with at least 10 aces. … St. Olaf boasts five players with at least 100 digs, led by Kristin Boyum's team-leading 327.