Match Summary / GameDay Preview

MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team got its busy Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference weekend off on the right foot Friday, knocking off Saint Benedict 3-1.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the sequel didn't have the same happy ending, as 20th-ranked Concordia handed SMU a 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-17) setback.

“We just couldn't seem to get into any type of rhythm,” said SMU coach Mike Lester, whose team, which had jumped into a share of the conference lead with Friday's win over the Blazers, fell a game back of league-leaders St. Thomas, Concordia and St. Olaf with Saturday's loss. “We got off to a bit of a slow start, but I thought we rebounded pretty well in the second set — we just quite get over the hump.

“Give Concordia credit, they played better than we did,” Lester added. “We held them to a .179 hitting percentage — we just couldn't shut down their top two players.

“They were the difference in the match.”

Those two players, Jenna Green and Katie Vohnoutka, combined for 23 of the team's 36 kills, while Vohnoutka also hit a match-high .435. Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.), meanwhile, led the way for SMU, collecting nine kills. Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) finished with 24 assists and Lindsey Legatt (Sartell, Minn.) tallied 15 digs.

The Cardinals, who fall to 4-2 in the MIAC and 16-5 overall, are back in action on Wednesday, playing host to St. Olaf in a 7 p.m. match at the SMU Gym.