Match Summary vs. North Central / Match Summary vs. Calvin
GameDay Preview

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — For the second day in a row, the Saint Mary's University volleyball team went 1-1 in their two matches at the North Central Invitational — and coach Mike Lester couldn't be happier.

“We played really, really well,” said Lester, whose team opened Saturday with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-23) win over North Central, before falling to ninth-ranked Calvin 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-18). “We were solid (against North Central) and played even better against a very good Calvin team.

“I was very happy with our performance all weekend,” Lester added. “We beat two region teams and lost to two teams ranked in the top 12 in the country — and in all four matches, I thought we played at a very high level.”

Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals against North Central, collecting 15 kills, while Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) added 12. Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) dished out 30 assists and posted a team-high 12 digs.

Gardner and Mate were again the offensive leaders against Calvin, posting 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Gardner also led the squad with eight digs, while Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) finished with 28 assists.

The Cardinals, who move to 18-8 overall with the 2-2 tournament showing, are now off until Friday, when they play host to Macalester in the first of four straight conference matches to close out the season.