ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team begins the final week of the regular season on the road on Wednesday, as the Cardinals — fresh off back-to-back wins over Macalester and Bethel last weekend — head to. St. Catherine for a key 7 p.m. contest against the Wildcats.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals: 6-3 MIAC / 20-8 Overall
St. Catherine Wildcats: 4-5 MIAC / 7-19 Overall

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats / Coach Lester Preview

Last Action:
The Cardinals rallied from a first-set loss to rattle off three straight wins and beat Bethel 3-1 Saturday at the SMU Gym to complete a perfect 2-0 weekend. SMU had beaten Macalester 3-0 on Friday evening. St. Catherine, meanwhile, rebounded from a 3-0 Friday night loss at St. Thomas with a 3-1 victory over Augsburg at home on Saturday.

Last Meeting — October 14, 2009:
The Cardinals racked up a season-high 85 digs — and Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) recorded a career-best 24 kills — as SMU rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat St. Catherine 3-2 (21-25, 27-29, 25-22, 25-19, 15-13).

MIAC Playoff Picture — Top 6 Earn MIAC Berths:
A win today against St. Catherine would lock up one of the six MIAC Playoff berths for the Cardinals. SMU is currently tied for fourth with Saint Benedict at 6-3, while Augsburg is sixth at 5-5 and St. Catherine is seventh at 4-5. St. Thomas (9-1), St. Olaf (8-1) and Concordia (7-2) have already clinched post-season berths.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
With their win on Saturday, the Cardinals picked up their 20th win of the season. It was the second straight season — and the 10th time in the program's history — that they have eclipsed the 20-win plateau. … Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) picked up 32 assists vs. Macalester last Friday, lifting the senior setter past the 3,000 career assist barrier. Cherwinka added 43 more assists vs. Bethel on Saturday, giving her 3,044 for her career. She ranks second to Ambjor Rajtora (4,578) in career assists. … Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) picked up 37 kills last weekend, giving her 1,364 for her career and leaving her just 15 kills shy of Amanda Edmond for No. 3 all-time. … Gardner, who has now collected 10 or more kills in six straight matches — and 22 times this season ¬— boasts a team-leading 374 kills. She and Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill. / 305) each enter today's match vs. St. Catherine with 300 or more kills. … Mate is also continuing her climb up the career kills list, picking up 24 kills over the weekend to give her 1,257 for her career. Mate enters tonight's match No. 6 all-time, 48 kills shy of Tracy Koertgen at No. 5. … Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.), who has 238 kills to give SMU three players with 200 or more kills, leads the team in attack percentage at .305. … SMU has five players with 20 or more aces, led by Gardner with 36 and Kujak with 34. … SMU's victory over Macalester last Friday was its 12th 3-0 sweep of the 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. … With their 2-2 finish at the North Central (Ill.) Invitational last weekend, the Cardinals finished 2010 with a 13-3 record in the four tournaments they appeared in. … Six of SMU's eight losses have come against nationally ranked teams.

St. Catherine News and Notes:
The Wildcats snapped a two-match losing streak with Saturday's 3-1 win over Augsburg. … Despite the two-match slide, St. Catherine enters tonight's match vs. Saint Mary's having won four of its last six. … Seven of the Wildcats' losses have been by 3-2 decisions — including all four matches at the Saint Benedict Inn-Vitational on Sept. 17-18. SCU is just 1-7 in five-set matches this season. … Brittni Wangerin enters tonight's match as the team's kills leader with 260, five more than Kayla Sis. The duo are two of six SCU players with 100 or more kills. … Nina Lindquist and Cailie Teigen have shared the setting duties for the Wildcats, with Lindquist boasting a team-best 538 assists, while Teigen is close behind at 410. … Teigen has also served up a team-leading 34 aces. She is one of six Wildcats with 10 or more aces this season. … Nicole Neumann leads the team with 717 digs.