RIPON, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team steps out of conference play this weekend, taking part in the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational.



The Cardinals' Matchups:
Friday, September 23, 2011:
SMU Cardinals (7-4 Overall) vs. Lakeland Muskies (3-11 Overall), 4 p.m.
SMU Cardinals vs. Coe Kohawks (10-1 Overall), 6 p.m.
Saturday, September 24, 2011:
SMU Cardinals vs. Marian Sabres (4-10 Overall), 10 a.m.
SMU Cardinals vs. UW-Marathon Co. Huskies (7-1 Overall), Noon

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Cardinals' Last Action:
The Cardinals split the first two sets of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at St. Catherine Wednesday, but the Wildcats picked up wins in Sets 3 and4 in handing SMU a 3-1 setback in St. Paul, Minn.

Cardinals vs. Lakeland — Their Last Meeting:
September 7, 2002: The Saint Mary's University volleyball team got 12 kills from Ashley Dingels and a stellar showing from setter Melissa Cowan, but it was not enough as the Cardinals dug themselves a 2-0 hole and could never quite dig themselves out in losing to Lakeland 3-1 in the final match of pool play at the SMU Sugar Loaf Classic

Cardinals vs. Coe — Their Last Meeting:
October 2, 2010: Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) and Jessica Mate helped the Cardinals make it look easy vs. Coe at the MIAC-IIAC Border Battle, cruising to a 3-0 victory over the Kohawks.

Cardinals vs. UW-Marathon Co. — Their Last Meeting:
Saturday's showdown will be the first-ever meeting between Saint Mary's and UW-Marathon County.

Cardinals vs. Marian — Their Last Meeting:
September 5, 2008: Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) collected 18 kills, while also adding 10 digs and two blocks to help the Cardinals cruise to a 3-1 victory over Marian at the Jefferson's Sugar Loaf Classic. The win was the sixth straight to start the season for the Cardinas.

Cardinals Up Next:
The Cardinals return to conference play on Wednesday, returning home for a 7 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown against St. Olaf at the SMU Gym.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
After playing their first nine matches without having one decided in four sets, the Cardinals have not played back-to-back four-setters — falling to both Augsburg last Saturday and St. Catherine on Wednesday. … Wednesday's setback at St. Catherine marked the first time this season the Cardinals have dropped back-to-back matches. … The Cardinals are a perfect 4-0 in three-set matches, while going 0-2 in four-setters and 3-2 in matches going the maximum five sets. … Kara Grant (Peosta, Iowa) led the team in kills for the third straight match Wednesday, collecting 14 kills against the Wildcats Wednesday. … Grant has now recorded 10 or more kills in nine straight matches and 10 times in the Cardinals' 11 contests. … Grant leads the team with 136 kills (3.16 kps). … Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) delivered 34 assists vs. St. Catherine Wednesday, pushing her team-leading assist total to 299. … Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) picked up a team-best 14 digs vs. the Wildcats Wednesday to eclipse the 100-dig plateau for the year. … Erika Hurley (Chatfield, Minn.) leads the team with 160 digs, while Cathy Rennie (Pine Island, Minn.) and Rasmussen (103) have also collected 100 or more digs this season. … As a team, SMU recorded six service aces vs. St. Catherine and has now collected 93 aces this season. … The Cardinals head into the Ripon Tournament having gone 3-1 in each of their first two tournaments this season. SMU is now 19-5 in its last six regular-season tournaments combined. … Assimos (Sugar Loaf Classic), Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis. / Sugar Loaf Classic) and Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn. / Endicott Tournament) have been named to the all-tournament teams in SMU's first two tournaments this season. … 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.

Lakeland Muskies News and Notes:
2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
The Muskies have won the Northern Athletics Conference title 10 times and have made six trips to the NCAA Division III National Tournament, the last of which came in 2009. … Lakeland snapped their two-match losing streak with a 3-0 win over Alverno Wednesday evening. … Wednesday's match vs. Alverno was the home opener for the Huskies, who played their first 13 matches on the road. … Allison Davis and Amanda Dillman pace the Lakeland offensive attack, boasting 167 and 121 kills, respectively. … Brittany Reindel has accounted for 423 of the team's 448 assists this season. … Lakeland boasts three players — Dillman (19), Reindel (12) and Katie Freitag (11) — with 10 or more aces. … Tess Myklebust owns a team-high 197 kills and is one of three Muskies who have recorded more than 100 digs this season. Melissa Christiansen (155) and Freitag (127) are the other two. … Lakeland is 1-6 in three-set matches, while going 1-2 in four-setters and 1-3 in matches that go the maximum five sets.

UW-Marathon County Huskies News and Notes:
2011 Roster | 2011 Schedule
UW-Marathon enters the Ripon Tournament having won five straight, including a 3-0 victory over UW-Richland on Wednesday. … The Huskies are coming off their second straight sweep of both the Western Division of the WCC and the Wisconsin Collegiate Conference Tournament. … UW-Marathon finished 21-3 in 2010, has gone 41-3-1 over the last two seasons and 62-5 in the last three. … During coach Matt Greenberg's first three seasons, the Huskies have produced 16 all-conference players in the program's history — including the Player of the Year, Setter of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards.

Coe Kohawks News and Notes
2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
Coe enters the Ripon Tournament on the heels of a 3-2 win over nationally ranked Wartburg on Wednesday. The Kohawks' 3-2 win was just the third time in program history that they had beat Wartburg in Waverly, Iowa. … Coe started the season 8-0, breaking the school record for best start to a season. Coe's 2006 NCAA Tournament team started the year 7-0. The Kohawks are also off to a 3-0 start in Iowa Conference play for just the second time ever. … The Kohawks are 5-0 on neutral courts this year, winning the Monmouth Invitational and going 3-1 at the Illinois Wesleyan Tournament. Coe has won 15 of 16 sets played on a neutral court. … Kaitlin McClimon collected a career-high 26 kills in the Kohawks' 3-2 win over Wartburg on Wednesday and now boasts a team-leading 122 kills this season. … McClimon became the fourth player in school history to tally 1,000 career kills earlier this season. … Emily Ryan ranks sixth in the nation with 11 assists per set. She leads the team with 444 assists. … Coe is 11-0 in the third set this year and hasn't lost a match that has gone five sets. In the third set alone, Coe has outscored its opponents 275-191.

Marian Sabres News and Notes
2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
The Sabres picked up their second straight win on Wednesday, sweeping Ripon 3-0 in Fond du Lac, Wis. … Three of Marian's four victories this season have come on their home court. … After opening the season with nine straight losses, the Sabres have gone 4-1 in their last five contests. … Wednesday's win over Ripon snapped the Sabres' seven-match losing streak to the Red Hawks. … Katie Reimer equaled her career-best with 41 assists vs. Ripon Wednesday and enters this weekend's tournament play with a team-leading 310 assists. … Elizabeth Zutz and Kaitlin Jarvis pace a balanced Sabre offensive attack, boasting 87 and 85 kills, respectively. … Ashley Zumbrock has picked up a team-leading 216 digs and is one of five Sabres with at least 100 digs. Reimer (137), Carlie Kinsey (136), Erika Heberer (130) and Kathryn Braunling (124) are the others. … Half of Marian's wins have been decided in four sets, while the Sabres have won their only five-set match this season — a 3-2 victory over Concordia-WI on Sept. 10.