North Park Summary | North Central Summary

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team gave coach Mike Lester's heart a bit of a breather in their first match of the day Saturday at the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament.

After back-to-back, five-set nailbiters to open the tournament on Friday — a 3-2 win over Aurora and a 3-2 setback against UW-Whitewater — the Cardinals made things look easy against North Park Saturday, cruising to a convincing 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 26-24)victory.

Unfortunately for Lester, it was back to the nailbiters in the second match, as the Cardinals went the distance for the third time in two days, falling to host North Central 3-2 (12-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21, 17-15).

“We played a lot of volleyball in those four matches,” said Lester, whose team did not finish with a 3-1 tournament record for the first time in its five regular-season matches this season, settling for a 2-2 mark. “I thought we played very well at times, and at times we struggled a bit.

“The match against North Central was a great match — give (North Central) credit, they played great defensively, and that was the difference.”

Kara Grant (Peosta, Iowa) led the way for the Cardinals in their opener against North Park, collecting 13 kills, while Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) added seven kills and hit .333. Megan Leisen (Kellogg, Minn.) recorded 30 assists and 14 digs, and Erika Hurley (Chatfield, Minn.) chipped in 14 digs.

Sabrina Bushlack (Mapleton, Minn.) was the Cardinals' heavy hitter against North Central, gathering 16 kills, with Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn.) tallying 12 kills. Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) dished out 41 assists and compiled 19 digs, while Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) led the team with 26 digs and Nordick posted eight blocks.

The Cardinals (15-12 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, traveling to St Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. match against St. Thomas.