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WINONA, Minn. — Home has been sweet for the Saint Mary's University volleyball team.

Heading into Saturday's regular-season finale against Gustavus, the Cardinals boasted an impressive 7-3 mark on their home court.

And, thanks to home win No. 8 — a 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Gusties at the SMU Gym — the Cardinals will get to serve up yet a little more home cooking.

This time in the opening round of the MIAC Tournament.

“This was a nice win for us — we closed out the regular-season with a win, we gave our (seven) seniors a memorable send-off, and, most importantly, we locked up that home tournament berth,” said SMU coach Mike Lester, whose fourth-seeded Cardinals will kick off tournament play on Tuesday, hosting fifth-seeded Saint Benedict in a 7 p.m. match. “We've had a lot of success on our home court this year, and, hopefully, that will continue on Tuesday.”

SMU, which will be making its third straight post-season appearance, had little trouble dispatching of the Gusties Saturday – after the opening set, that is.

Gustavus caught the Cardinals flat-footed in winning the opening set 25-18, only to have SMU rattle off three straight set wins, 25-13, 26-24, 25-20, to ice the win.

“We played well,” said SMU coach Mike Lester, whose team finished 7-4 in the MIAC, while sporting a 21-9 record heading into Tuesday's tournament match against the Blazers. “Defense and serving really became the difference – we serve received well and we served well, and I've said all season that if you can do those two things, you are going to win a lot of matches.”

Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, collecting a match-high 16 kills, while Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) chipped in 14 kills and Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) tallied 12. Kujak also hit a team-best .375, while Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) dished out 37 assists and Lindsey Legatt (Sartell, Minn.) recorded 13 digs.

“This was a good win, because it gives us some positive moment heading into Tuesday's match against Saint Benedict,” said Lester. “Home has been good to us all season – hopefully we can keep that magic going.”