Match Summary | GameDay Preview

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Mike Lester and his Saint Mary's University volleyball team have ridden this rollercoaster before.

Up and down, and up and down , and up and down …

Fortunately, Wednesday's ride at Carleton proved to be an enjoyable, albeit nail-biting, ride.

The Cardinals opened their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against the Knights with a hard-fought, 28-26 victory, then couldn't seem to do anything right in falling 25-15 in the second set. SMU regrouped for a 26-24 win in Set 3, then completed the 3-1 conference victory with its seconds straight 26-24 win in the fourth set.

“It was a fun match,” said SMU coach Mike Lester. “I thought we played very well, and some people really stepped up and produced for us tonight.”

Leading that production was junior Sabrina Bushlack (Mapleton, Minn.), who recorded a match-high 18 kills and hit .308.

Kara Grant (Peosta, Iowa) banged out 17 kills, while adding a career-best 20 digs, and Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) eclipsed the 1,000-assist mark for the season, dishing out 46 assists. Assimos also added seven kills and a .353 attack percentage. Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) chipped in 11 kills and hit .346, with Megan Schulz (Andover, Minn.) tallying 18 digs.

“Sabrina had a great match tonight, and for Kara to come up with 20 digs — to reach that 20-dig plateau is pretty impressive,” Lester said. “We had a bit of a blip in that second set where we struggled with our consistent and serve receive, but other than that, I thought we played a pretty solid match.”

The Cardinals, who improve to 3-7 in the MIAC and 17-13 overall with their second straight victory, close out their 2011 season on Saturday, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference contest against Gustavus.