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WINONA, Minn. — The first two sets of Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against St. Olaf went exactly the way Saint Mary's University volleyball coach Mike Lester figured they would — two sets … two, two-point outcomes.

The last two sets, however, didn't quite go according to Lester's script, as St. Olaf used a pair of lengthy runs — one in the third set and one in the fourth — and handed the Cardinals a 3-1 (29-27, 25-27, 25-19, 25-16) conference setback at the SMU Gym.

“The first two sets went pretty much the way I figured,” said Lester. “We knew coming in that it was going to be a battle — every match in the conference is a battle.

“(St. Olaf) just kept putting the pressure on us in those last two sets and really wore us down.”

The Oles outlasted SMU in the opening set, a set in which there were 14 ties —  including 20-20, 21-21, 22-22, 23-23, 24-24, 25-25, 26-26, and finally, 27-27. St, Olaf then got a kill by Ariel Carlson and a an ace from Kristin Boyum to seal the Set 1 win.

It was more of the same in the second set, as the Oles rallied from a 24-21 deficit to tie things at 24-24, before the Cardinals rattled off three of the next four points — including back-to-back kills by Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) to pull the Cardinal even at 1-1.

Then the Oles decided to do some running.

With the third set tied at 14-14, the Oles made their first run, using an 8-2 run to take a 22-25 lead en route to a 25-19 victory. In the fourth set, St. Olaf turned a two-point, 8-6 SMU lead into a 15-8 advantage with a 9-0 run that the Cardinals never recovered from.

“Those two runs were the difference in the match,” said Lester, whose team falls to 1-3 in the MIAC and 10-6 overall. “(St. Olaf) got the momentum on their side, and we just couldn't slow them down.”

Kara Grant (Peosta, Iowa) led the way for the Cardinals, collecting a match-high 18 kills, while Nordick and Sabrina Bushlack (Mapleton, Minn.) each chipped in 11. Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) — the reigning MIAC Setter of the Week — finished with 37 assists, while Cathy Rennie (Pine Island, Minn.) recorded 15 digs to lead four Cardinals with at least 10 digs.

Carlson recorded 15 kills and Katie Wolfram and Melissa Burch finished with 11 and 10, respectively, for the Oles. Justine Dammermann recorded 42 of the team's 43 assists, with Boyum adding a match-high 22 digs.
The Cardinals are back in action on Friday and Saturday, as they travel to Dubuque, Iowa, to take part in the University of Dubuque Tournament.