The Saint Mary's University volleyball team, coming off back-to-back victories over Northwestern (Minn.) and Crown in St. Paul, Minn., on Wednesday, returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this weekend, traveling to Saint Benedict for a 7 p.m. match on Friday, then heading to Moorhead, Minn., for a 3 p.m. contest against Concordia on Saturday.

The Teams:
Saint Mary's Cardinals: 3-1 MIAC / 16-3 Overall
Saint Benedict Blazers: 4-1 MIAC / 15-7 Overall
Concordia Cobbers: 3-1 MIAC / 16-4 Overall

GameDay Live On The Web:
Vs. Saint Benedict: Live Stats / Live Video
Vs. Concordia: Live Stats / Live Video
Coach Lester Preview

Last Action:
The Cardinals are coming off a 3-0 win vs. Crown and a 3-0 loss vs. Northwestern at the Northwestern Triangular Wednesday. Saint Benedict, meanwhile, posted its fifth straight win Wednesday evening, rolling to a 3-0 conference win over Carleton in St. Joseph, Minn. Concordia enters the weekend's matches against Carleton on Friday and Saint Mary's on Saturday having won all four of its Border Battle matches — 3-0 vs. Luther, 3-1 vs. Cornell, 3-0 vs. Wartburg and 3-1 vs. Simpson — last weekend in St. Joseph, Minn.

SMU vs. Saint Benedict — A Year Ago:
Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) record 19 kills and Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) notched her first-ever 60-assist night, as the Cardinals outlasted the Blazers 3-2 in Winona, Minn., snapping CSB's 13-match winning streak.

SMU vs. Concordia — A Year Ago:
Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) delivered 19 kills for the second straight night and Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) added 18, but it was not enough, as Concordia escaped the SMU Gym with a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
SMU enters it weekend matches ranked No. 24 in the latest AVCA Top 25. … The Cardinals' loss to Northwestern Wednesday evening snapped their season-high eight-match winning streak. … Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) — the reigning MIAC Setter of the Week after dishing out 154 assists, while also collecting 12 kills in the Cardinals' four Border Battle matches last weekend — collected 24 assists vs. Northwestern Wednesday, giving her 2,799 career assists and moving her within four assists of current assistant coach Tessa Wagnild for No. 2 all-time. … Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) picked up a team-leading 15 kills and hit .636 in SMU's 3-0 win over Crown Wednesday, while Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) posted team highs in kills (10) and digs (10) against Northwestern. … Gardner leads four SMU players with 100 or more kills, boasting a team-best 252, while Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) is second with 197, followed by Kujak (180) and Carissa Hahn (Hutchinson, Minn. / 123). … Kujak also leads the team in attack percentage at .358. … Gardner's 16 kills in SMU's two matches Wednesday give her 1,242 for her career. She is currently No. 7 all-time in career kills and is just seven kills behind Kirsten Rouzer for No. 6. … 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). … Sara Harstad (Chatfield, Minn.) posted a career-high 11 kills in the Cardinals' 3-0 win over Crown Wednesday. … With their four wins last weekend at the MIAC-IIAC Border Battle, the Cardinals are now a perfect 8-0 in Border Battle matches over the last two years. … With their 3-0 win vs. Crown Wednesday, the Cardinals have now won via sweep in 10 of their 15 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. … SMU has four players with 20 or more aces, led by Gardner with 24 and Kujak with 23.

Saint Benedict Blazers News and Notes:
Today's match against SMU is the sixth of seven straight home matches for the Blazers. CSB is a perfect 12-0 on its home court this season. … CSB has dropped just two sets during its current five-match winning streak. … Along with their current five-match winning streak, the Blazers have also won 12 of their last 13 matches — the lone blemish a 3-2 conference setback vs. Macalester on Sept. 29. … Kayli Schumacher collected her 1,000th career kills vs. Carleton Wednesday. The senior right-side hitter, finished the match with 10 kills, is now one of nine Blazers to reach the 1,000-kill plateau — including teammate Calleigh Brown, who eclipsed the milestone earlier this season. … Schumacher enters the weekend as the team's kills leader with 249. She is one of two Blazers with 200 or more kills — Chelsie Sobieck is the other at 210 — and one of five with at least 100 kills. … Kathryn Gaydos has accumulated 826 assists this season, while Amber Wortz has compiled a team-best 322 digs.

Concordia Cobbers News and Notes:
The Cobbers lost just two sets in sweeping its four Border Battle matches last weekend in St. Joseph, Minn. … The Cobbers are now 26-2 in their seven appearances at the MIAC-IIAC Border Battle — including a perfect 16-0 in matches hosted by Minnesota schools. … With the four wins, Concordia enters its two weekend conference matches having won 10 of its last 11 matches. … All four of Concordia's losses have come against teams that were nationally ranked at the time of their meeting — 3-0 vs. No. 13 UW-Eau Claire, 3-0 vs. No. 5 Wittenberg, 3-1 vs. No. 19 Heidelberg and 3-1 vs. No. 15 St. Thomas. … Concordia enters its home weekend matches vs. Carleton and Saint Mary's a perfect 3-0 on its home court. … Katie Vohnoutka collected at least 13 kills in all four Border Battle matches en route to earning all-tournament honors. The junior outside hitter finished the weekend with 60 kills, 20 blocks and 19 digs. Vohnoutka's best match came against Simpson, where she had 17 kills against and 11 blocks. … Vohnoutka leads the team in kills (252) and service aces (27), while Jenna Green — who had 46 kills and averaged a double-double in kills and digs at the Border Battle — is second on the team in kills with 242. … Amy Sykora and Danelle Loomis have shared the setting duties for the Cobbers this season, with Sykora collecting 470 assists, while Loomis has 230. … The Cobbers are 8-2 in three-set matches and 6-2 in four-setters. Concordia has played two five-set matches — vs. Northwestern to open the season on Sept. 3 and vs. 12th-ranked Ohio Northern on Sept. 18 — winning both.