WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team kicks off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play Wednesday, hosting Macalester in a 7 p.m. match at the SMU Gym.




The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0 MIAC | 6-2 Overall)
vs. Macalester Scots (0-0 MIAC | 3-6 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals are coming off a 3-1 showing at the Endicott Tournament in Beverly, Mass., beating Endicott (3-0), Middlebury (3-2), and Plymouth State (3-2), before falling to Bowdoin (3-2) last weekend. … Macalester, meanwhile, went 3-1 at the St. Catherine Tournament last weekend, rebounding from an opening 3-0 loss to Luther with wins vs. Bethany Lutheran (3-0), Alverno (3-0) and UW-Stout (3-1).

Cardinals vs. Scots — Their Last Meeting:
Oct. 22, 2010: In a match that rewarded a high amount of digs, it would have been beneficial for the MIAC match between Saint Mary's University and Macalester to go the maximum five sets. The Cardinals, however, had other ideas, as they stormed past the Scots on Dig Pink Night in three straight sets, 3-0 (25-15, 28-26, 25-19), at the SMU Gym.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are back on the road on Saturday, as they travel to Minneapolis, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference contest at Augsburg. … Macalester, meanwhile, stays at home this weekend, hosting the Macalester Invitational, where the Scots will face Northwestern (Minn.), UW-Superior, Buena Vista and Grinnell.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
The Cardinals recorded their second straight 3-1 tournament showing last weekend at the Endicott Tournament. … With their 3-1 effort, SMU is now 19-5 in its last six regular-season tournaments combined. … Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) recorded a team-leading 73 digs and nine service aces en route to earning all-tournament honors at the Endicott Tournament last weekend. … Kara Grant (Peosta, Iowa) hammered home a team-best 51 kills in the Cardinals' four Endicott Tournament matches, while Carissa Hahn (Hutchinson, Minn.) added 39 and Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) finished with 31. … Megan Leisen (Kellogg, Minn.) recorded 72 assists at the Endicott Tournament — including a career-best 51 in SMU's five-set loss to Bowdoin last Saturday — while Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) finished with 61. … As a team, the Cardinals collected 35 aces in their four tournament matches last weekend and has now collected 72 aces in eight matches this season. … Grant now leads the team with 101 kills, with Hahn second with 75. … Assimos is the team-leader in assists (203), while Cathy Rennie (Pine Island, Minn.) and Erica Hurley (Chatfield, Minn.) won team highs in aces (15) and digs (135), respectively. … The Cardinals set a pair of single-match records in the rally scoring era in their 3-0 victory over Finlandia on Sept. 2. SMU held the Lions to a record-low four points in their Set 3, 25-4 win, while the Cardinals' 19 service aces were also a single-match record. … Rasmussen, Assimos and Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) have been named to the all-tournament teams in SMU's first two tournaments this season. … Both of SMU's losses this season have gone the maximum five sets. … SMU is 3-0 in three-set matches and the Cardinals have not played a match that has been decided in four sets.

Macalester Scots News and Notes:
2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
After opening the season with six straight losses, the Scots have won their last three matches, dropping just one set in the process. … Three of Macalester's first nine matches have gone the maximum five sets — the Scots are 0-3 in those five-setters. … Laura Avena enters Wednesday's match at Saint Mary's as the Scots' offensive leader, boasting 124 kills (4.13 kps), while Taylor Tinkham has added 79 kills and his hitting a team-best .356. … Danielle Dweck has dished out 248 assists in nine matches. … Along with her 124 kills, Avena also owns the team lead in aces with 17. … Bailey Rehnberg, collected a career-high 31 digs in the Scots' 3-1 win over UW-Stout last Saturday, is the team leader with 118 digs, while Glasha Marcon has also eclipsed the 100-dig mark with 103. … Wednesday's match at Saint Mary's is the ninth road match in 10 contests for the Scots in 2011.