ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team, coming off an impressive 4-0 performance at the MIAC-IIAC Border Battle in Dubuque, Iowa last weekend, returns to action Wednesday, taking on Northwestern and Crown as part of the Northwestern Triangular.



The Teams:
Saint Mary's Cardinals: 14-3 Overall
Northwestern Eagles: 12-9 Overall
Crown Storm: 2-13 Overall

GameDay On The Web:
Live Video (Northwestern Match Only) / Coach Lester Preview

Last Action:
The Cardinals, behind the stellar setting of Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.), cruised to four straight wins at the MIAC-IIAC Border Battle, beating University of Dubuque (3-0), Loras (3-2), Coe (3-0) and Central-Iowa (3-2) in Dubuque, Iowa. … Northwestern posted back-to-back victories Saturday, sweeping Presentation (3-0) and Macalester (3-0) in St. Paul, Minn. Crown, meanwhile, lost both of its home matches over the weekend, falling to Morris (3-1) on Friday and Presentation (3-0) on Saturday.

Last Meetings:
The Cardinals and Eagles squared off in a nonconference match in Winona, Minn., on Oct. 20, 2009, with SMU coming away with a 3-1 victory. SMU and Crown, meanwhile, have only met one time in their programs' history, with the Cardinals coming away with a 3-0 victory on Oct. 13, 2006.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
SMU enters tonight's matches ranked No. 24 in the latest AVCA Top 25. … With their four wins last weekend at the MIAC-IIAC Border Battle, the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to a season-high six straight. … The Cardinals are now a perfect 8-0 in Border Battle matches over the last two years. … With their 3-0 wins over the University of Dubuque and Coe, the Cardinals have won via sweep in nine of their 14 victories this season. … SMU is also a perfect 3-0 in five-set matches, thanks to their 3-2 wins over Loras and Central-Iowa. … Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) dished out 154 assists, while also collecting 12 kills — including a career-high eight in SMU's 3-2 win over Central — in the Cardinals' four Border Battle matches, earning the senior setter all-tournament honors. … Cherwinka enters Wednesday's matches with 2,755 career assists, leaving her just 28 assists shy of current assistant coach Tessa Wagnild for No. 2 all-time. … Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) collected a team-leading 60 kills (3.75 kps) and hit .346 in SMU's four Border Battle matches. The senior has now hammered out 236 kills this season and pushed her career total to 1,226. … Gardner is currently No. 7 all-time in career kills and is just 23 kills behind Kirsten Rouzer for No. 6. … Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) added 52 kills at the Border Battle, pushing her season total to 190 and her career total to 1,142. … Carissa Hahn (Hutchinson, Minn.) equaled her career high in kills twice at the Border Battle, posting 12-kill efforts vs. both Loras and Central-Iowa. … Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) hit a team-best .361 at the Border Battle, and with her 159 kills joins Gardner, Mate, and Hahn (116) with 100 or more kills. … SMU has five players with 10 or more aces, led by Gardner with 23. … Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) leads the team in digs with 259 and is one of four players with more than 100 digs through 17 matches.

Northwestern Eagles News and Notes:
With their wins over Presentation and Macalester last Saturday, the Eagles pushed their winning streak to a season high eight straight. … Saturday's win over Presentation also extended Northwestern's UMAC winning streak to 33 in a row. … Northwestern is a perfect 4-0 at home, while going 8-9 on the road. … Chelsea Koth enters tonight's matches boasting a team-leading 229 kills, one more than teammate Elissa Sandstrom. The duo is two of three Eagles with at least 200 kills. Greta King (213) is the other. … Sandstrom is also hitting a team-best .269, while Leah Kostek is the team's assist leader with 735. … Kelsey Korporal has accumulated 511 digs, while Danielle Rhodes (291) and King (242) have also amassed more than 200 digs this season. … Nine of the Eagles' 12 wins have been 3-0 sweeps. … Northwestern has played six, five-set matches, going 2-4.

Crown Storm News and Notes:
The Storm enter tonight's matches looking to snap a season-high seven-match losing streak. … Crown has won just two sets during its current seven-match losing streak, being swept five times and losing 3-1 in the other two. … Shelby Vischer enters tonight's matches as the team-leader in kills with 111 (2.92 kps) and digs with 100 (2.63 dps). … Judy Mundt, meanwhile, has accounted for 294 of the team's 334 assists. … The Storm boast six players with 10 or more services aces, led by Naomi Anderson's 19.