DUBUQUE, Iowa  — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team steps out of conference play this weekend, taking part in the River City Classic, beginning with matches vs. U. of Dubuque and Clarke College Friday.



The Cardinal Matchups:
Friday, September 30, 2011:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (10-6 Overall)
vs. U. of Dubuque Spartans (11-6 Overall), 4 p.m.; vs. Clarke (8-8 Overall), 6 p.m.
Saturday, October 1, 2011:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (10-6 Overall)
vs.  UW-Superior Yellowjackets (8-6), 10 a.m.; vs. Coe Kohawks (15-1 Overall), 2 p.m.

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats (Dubuque Match Only) | Video Preview

Cardinals Last Action:
St. Olaf used a pair of crucial runs in the third and fourth sets to hand the Cardinals a 3-1 (29-27, 25-27, 25-19, 25-16) conference setback at the SMU Gym Wednesday.

Cardinals vs. U. of Dubuque— Their Last Meeting:
October 1, 2010: Sarah Gardner  collected a match-high 16 kills and Brittany Cherwinka dished out 31 assists, as the Cardinals cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Spartans in the opening match of the MIAC-IIAC Border Battle, in Dubuque, Iowa.

Cardinals vs. Clarke College — Their Last Meeting:
August 31, 2007: The Cardinals rallied from a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth and decisive set, but it was Clarke who came out on top, 15-10, in handing SMU a 3-2 setback during the opening day of the Ripon Tournament in Ripon, Wis.

Cardinals vs. UW-Superior — Their Last Meeting:
September 8, 2006: The Cardinals rallied from a two-games-to-one deficit to beat the Yellowjackets 3-2 during the opening day of the SMU Sugar Loaf Classic in Winona, Minn.

Cardinals vs. Coe — Their Last Meeting:
September 23, 2011: The Cardinals and Kohawks squared off last weekend at the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational in Ripon, Wis., with Coe coming away with a 3-2 victory.

Cardinals Up Next:
The Cardinals return to conference play with a pair of home matches next weekend, hosting Saint Benedict in a 7 p.m. match on Friday, then entertaining nationally ranked Concordia at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
The Cardinals head into this weekend's University of Dubuque Tournament having gone 3-1 in each of their previous tournaments this season. … SMU is now 22-6 in its last six regular-season tournaments. … After going their first nine contests without a match being decided in four sets, the Cardinals have played four four-setters in their last seven matches, including Wednesday's 3-1 loss to St. Olaf. … All three of SMU's MIAC losses this season have been decided in four sets. … SMU's 3-0 win over UW-Marathon County last Saturday was its fifth 3-0 sweep of the season. The Cardinals are a perfect 5-0 in 3-0 matches. … With their two 3-2 contests last Friday, SMU has now played seven matches that have gone the maximum five sets — going 4-3 in those seven matches. … Kara Grant (Peosta, Iowa), who recorded her first three 20+ kill performances at the Red Hawk Invitational last weekend —recording 21 kills vs. Marian, 23 against Lakeland and a career-best 24 vs. Coe — posted a team- and match-high 18 kills against St. Olaf on Wednesday. … Grant has now recorded 10 or more kills in 14 of the team's 16 matches this season. … Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) — the reigning MIAC Setter of the Week, after compiling 148 assists at last weekend's Red Hawk Invitational — recoded 37 assists vs. the Oles. … Assimos recorded 51 assists against both Coe and Marian last weekend, marking the third and fourth times this season the Cardinal sophomore has notched 50 of more assists. … Sabrina Bushlack (Mapleton, Minn.) recorded a career-best 18 kills in the Cardinals' 3-1 win over Marian last Saturday. … With her 18 kills vs. St. Olaf Wednesday, Grant now leads the team with 227 kills through 16 matches, while Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) is second with 120. … Nordick added three more blocks against St. Olaf Wednesday, giving the freshman a team-best 69 blocks in 16 matches. … Assimos boasts a team-best 484 assists, while Erika Hurley (Chatfield, Minn.) is the team-leader in digs with 209. … Hurley is one of three SMU players with 100 or more digs. Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn. / 184) and Cathy Rennie (Pine Island, Minn. / 153) are the other two. … With their three aces against St. Olaf, the Cardinals have now served up 118 aces this season. … Assimos has been named to the All-Tournament team in two of the Cardinals' three tournaments (Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic and Red Hawk Invitational). Grant (Red Hawk Invitational), Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis. / Sugar Loaf Classic) and Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn. / Endicott Tournament) have also been named to all-tournament teams 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.

University of Dubuque Spartans News and Notes:
2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
The Spartans' win over Simpson Wednesday snapped a pair of streaks. The 3-0 win at Simpson snapped U. of Dubuque's two-match losing streak, while also ending a 12-year losing streak in Indianola, Iowa. … Lauren McKissick accounted for more than half of the team's 45 kills vs. Simpson Wednesday, collecting 23 kills on 53 attempts (.358 attack percentage). … McKissick enters tournament play with a team-leading 229 kills (3.58 kps) and a team-best .280 attack percentage. … Carly Green is second on the team with 145 kills. … Lindsay Ellinor and Meggie Schmidt have shared the setting duties, with Ellinor compiling 328 assists, with Schmidt adding 268. The two are also 1-2 in service aces, with Ellinor leading the way with 18, and Schmidt close behind at 17. … U. of Dubuque boasts four players with 100 or more digs, led by Kristin Mortensen with 373. Schmidt (156), Ellinor (141) and Tiffani Gassman (100) are the other three. … Six of the Spartans' 11 wins have come by 3-0 sweeps, while they are 4-3 in four-setters and 1-2 in matches that go the maximum five sets. … U. of Dubuque is 3-2 on its home floor and 8-4 on the road.

Clarke Crusaders News and Notes:
2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
The Crusaders saw their record dip to .500 at 8-8 with a 3-1 loss at Viterbo on Tuesday. … After starting the season 2-5, Clarke has gone 6-3 in its last nine matches — a run that included a season-high four-match winning streak. … Allison Pasker leads the Crusaders offense, boasting 102 kills and a .257 attack percentage. … Corrin Larkin and Hannah Grow have shared the setting duties for Clarke, with Larkin collecting a team-best 329 assists, while Grow has chipped in 161. … Larkin and Bridget Bowman share the team lead with 20 service aces, one more than Molly Bender, while Betsy Nauman owns the team lead in digs with 204. … Nauman is one of four Crusaders with 100 or more digs — Bender (191), Tina Zielinski (133) and Shannon Gallagher (112) are the other three. … Six of Clarke's eight wins have been by 3-0 decisions. The Crusaders are 2-2 in matches decided in four sets, while going 0-2 in five-setters. … Clarke is 3-2 on its home court and 5-6 on the road.

UW-Superior Yellowjackets News and Notes:
2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
UW-Superior enters this weekend's tournament play in the midst of a two-match losing streak, having dropped a 3-0 decision to UW-Whitewater on Sept. 23 and a 3-1 decision at UW-Stevens Point on Sept. 24. … Nikki Gosson and Kitty Tynen have both surpassed the 100-kill plateau this season, with Gosson owning the team lead with 115 kills, while Tynen has chipped in 104. … Keely Deadrick and Emily Cole have shared the setting duties. Deadrick boasts a team-best 322 assists, while Cole has added 154. … Deadrick is also the team-leader with 25 aces, while Farrah Wirtz has amassed a team-high 248 digs. … Only four of the Yellowjackets' 14 matches have been decided by 3-0 scores — with UW-Superior going 2-2 in those four matches. … Four of UW-Superior's six losses have been in four sets, while the Yellowjackets are a perfect 3-0 in five-setters.

Coe Kohawks News and Notes:
2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
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 4-0 start in Iowa Conference play for just the second time ever. … The Kohawks are 10-0 on neutral courts this year, winning the Monmouth Invitational and the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational, while also going 3-1 at the Illinois Wesleyan Tournament.  … Coe has won 27 of 32 sets played on a neutral court.  … Coe enters the River City Classic on the heels of a 3-2 win over IIAC power Central-Iowa in a battle of league-leaders. The Kohawks' 3-2 win Tuesday marked just the second time in school history — and first since 1985 — that the Kohawk beat traditional powerhouse Central on its home floor.  … Coe's streak-snapping win over Central came just a week after the Kohawks beat nationally ranked Wartburg 3-2. It was just the third time in program history that they had beat Wartburg in Waverly, Iowa. … Kaitlin McClimon, who became the fourth player in school history to tally 1,000 career kills earlier this season, is the team leader in kills with 196, five more than Rachel Schaefer. The duo are two of four Kohawks who have recorded 100 or more kills through 16 matches. Molly Steffens (166) and Megan Barron (113) are the other two. … Emily Ryan has accounted for 661 of the team's 730 assists this season. … Along with her 113 kills, Barron also leads the team with 30 services aces, while Schaefer is second with 28. … Brittany Shickell's 203 digs lead the Kohawks, who have also gotten 100 or more digs from Steffens (198), Alissa Wittenburg (183), Ryan (179) and Barron (134). … Coe is 14-2 in the third set this year and hasn't lost a match that has gone five sets (5-0).