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DUBUQUE, Iowa — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team got off to a roaring start at the River City Classic Friday evening, as the Cardinals proved to be rather ungracious guests, beating host University of Dubuque 3-1 in the tournament's opening match.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, after racing out to a 2-0 lead in their second match of the day against Clarke, the momentum quickly shifted, and the Crusaders rattled off three straight wins to hand SMU a 3-2 setback.
“I thought we played very consistent in the first match — we were pretty solid from start to finish,” said SMU coach
Mike Lester. “But in the second match, we weren't nearly as consistent. We kind of played like the (Minnesota) Vikings — very good in the first half, but then we kind of went through the motions in the second half (of the match).”
SMU and the University of Dubuque split their first set sets, with the Cardinals opening with a 25-22 win, only to have the Spartans answer with a 25-23 win in Set. 2. It was all Saint Mary's after that, however, as the Cardinals won the third set 25-18, before closing out the Spartans with a 25-23 win in the fourth set.
The Cardinals posted 25-20 and 25-23 wins in the first two sets against Clarke, and, after dropping the third set 25-21, grabbed what appeared to be a commanding 18-10 lead in the fourth set. From there, however, Clarke outscored SMU 15-3 and then took the fifth set 15-12 to ice the come-from-behind win.
Against the University of Dubuque,
Kara Grant (Peosta, Iowa) led the Cardinals' offense, collecting 20 kills — marking the fourth time in the last five matches that the SMU freshman has notched 20 or more kills.
Sabrina Bushlack (Mapleton, Minn.) chipped in 17 kills, while
Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) added 11 kills and hit a team-best .400.
Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) dished out 47 assists, with
Tara Rasmussen finishing with a team-high 26 digs.
Grant again led the Cardinals' charge against Clarke, recording a career-high 26 kills, while Nordick chipped in 10 kills and 10 blocks and Assimos finished with 41 assists.
The Cardinals return to River City Classic action on Saturday, taking on UW-Superior (10 a.m.) and Coe (2 p.m.), before returning home for Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contests against Saint Benedict and Concordia next Friday and Saturday, respectively.
