MENOMONIE, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team hits the road for the final time this weekend, traveling to UW-Stout to take part in the two-day UW-Stout Invitational.




The Cardinals' Matchups:
Friday, Oct. 12, 2012 | Menomonie, Wis.
SMU Cardinals (11-9 Overall) vs. UW-River Falls Falcons (17-6 Overall), 3:30 p.m.
SMU Cardinals vs. St. Catherine Wildcats (12-11 Overall), 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012 | Menomonie, Wis.
SMU Cardinals vs. UW-Stevens Point Pointers (16-4 Overall), Noon
SMU Cardinals vs. UW-Stout Blue Devils (10-10 Overall), 2 p.m.

GameDay Live On The Web:
 Tournament Homepage

Last Action:
The Cardinals had their two-match winning streak snapped Wednesday, as SMU dropped a 3-0 MIAC decision to Bethel in Arden Hills, Minn. … UW-River Falls outlasted UW-Stout on Wednesday, recording a 3-2 WIAC in Menomonie, Wis. … Like Saint Mary's, St. Catherine also came up empty in its MIAC match Wednesday, as Saint Benedict blanked the Wildcats 3-0 in St. Joseph, Minn. … UW-Stevens Point has been off since last Saturday, when the Pointers cruised to a 3-1 win over UW-Stout in Stevens Point, Wis.

SMU vs. UW-River Falls — Their Last Meeting:
September 5, 2009: The Cardinals to a 25-18 opening-set victory over UW-River Falls, and were it not for a 25-21 stumble in Set 2, SMU would have posted its second sweep of the day. SMU rebounded from that second “fall” in convincing fashion, routing the Falcons 25-12 and 25-16 to close out the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic with a 3-1 win and perfect 3-0 record.

SMU vs. St. Catherine — Their Last Meeting:
September 19, 2012: The Cardinals and Wildcats met earlier this year in MIAC play. SMU raced out to a 2-0 lead, but St. Catherine stormed back with back-to-back wins in Sets 3 and 4 to force a fifth and decisive set — a set the Cardinals grabbed an early lead and never relinquished, winning 16-14 to seal the 3-2 (25-19, 25-23, 21-25, 24-26, 16-14) victory at the SMU Gym.

SMU vs. UW-Stevens Point — Their Last Meeting:
September 3, 2008: After picking up first-set wins against all four teams it faced in rolling to a 4-0 record at the Elmhurst Tournament last weekend, the Cardinals came up short in the first set against the Pointers, falling 25-23. Which turned out to be bad news for the Pointers, as SMU rebounded with three straight wins — 25-12, 27-25, 25-21 — to beat UW-SP 3-1 and run its season-opening winning streak to five straight.

SMU vs. UW-Stout — Their Last Meeting:
September 4, 2010: Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) reached the 1,000-kill plateau with her team-leading 10 kills in SMU's 3-0 victory over UW-Stout during the second day of the SMU Sugar Loaf Classic in Winona, Minn.

Cardinals Up Next:
The Cardinals finally return home Friday, kicking off a regular season-ending four-match conference homestand with a 7 p.m. MIAC contest against nationally ranked St. Thomas. SMU entertains Hamline the following afternoon, hosting the Pipers in a 3 p.m. contest.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
This weekend's matches at the UW-Stout Invitational are the final road matches of the season. After playing 12 straight matches away from home, the Cardinals close out their regular-season with four consecutive home matches, beginning Friday against nationally ranked St. Thomas. … With their 3-1 showing at the UW-Platteville Tournament last weekend, the Cardinals have now gone 8-4 in their three regular-season tournaments this season. … Despite falling to Bethel 3-0 on Wednesday, the Cardinals enter the weekend on a roll, having won four of their last seven. … Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn.) picked up a team-best seven kills against Bethel Wednesday, while Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) and Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) each chipped in six. … Assimos, who hit a team-best .455 vs. the Royals — collecting her six kills on just 11 swings — also led the team with 23 assists. … With her six kills vs. Bethel, Nordick pushed her team-leading kill total to 167, while Carissa Hahn (Hutchinson, Minn. / 138) and Nordick (102) have also eclipsed the 100-kill barrier. … Assimos enters the weekend with a team-best 570 assists, giving her 1,820 for her three-year collegiate career. … Assimost has eclipsed the 40-assist mark twice this season — including a season-high 45 assists against Concordia on Sept. 29. … Assimos equaled her career high with eight kills vs. St. Catherine on Sept. 19. … Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) recorded a team-leading 11 kills vs. Bethel Wednesday, with Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) and Cathy Rennie (Pine Island, Minn.) each adding 10. … With her team-best 320 digs, Krogstad is one of six Cardinals with 100 or more digs this season. … SMU has recorded 96 services aces this season, led by Cathy Rennie (Pine Island, Minn.) with 22 and Krogstad and Assimos with 15 each. … Five of the Cardinals' 11 wins have been 3-0 sweeps. The Cardinals are also unbeaten in five-set matches, going 2-0. … SMU's 3-1 win over the University of Dubuque at the UW-Platteville Invitational on Oct. 6 marked the first time this season the Cardinals have won a match when not winning the opening set. … The Cardinals' 2-0 start to the conference season marked the first time since 2008 that they opened MIAC play with back-to-back wins.

Scouting The UW-River Falls Falcons:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
The Falcons enter this weekend's UW-Stout Invitational has won two straight and four of their last five. … Three of UW-River Falls' six losses came at the St. Norbert Tournament on Sept. 28-29, where the Falcons fell to St. Norbert (3-0), UW-Eau Claire (3-2) and Carthage (3-1). … Courtney Preiner highlighted the Falcons' 3-2 win over UW-Stout Wednesday, recording 22 digs to become the first UW-River Falls player to eclipse the 2,000-dig mark. … Preiner owns a team-best 395 digs this season and is one of four Falcons with 100 or more digs. … Erin Green — who leads the WIAC in kills — picked up 22 against the Blue Devils, pushing her team- and conference-leading total to 323. … Green is one of three Falcons with 200 or more kills — Jean Theis (216) and Brianna Muetzel (204) are the other two. … Mackenzie Suda accounted for 50 of the Falcons' 53 assists vs. UW-Stout. She leads the team with 888 assists through 23 matches. … Suda's 50 assists marked the fifth time this season she has recorded 50 of more assists in a match. Suda posted a season-high 54 assists against UW-Platteville on Sept. 22. … Suda also leads the team in service aces with 33. … Nine of UW-River Falls' 17 wins have been 3-0 sweeps. The Falcons are 4-2 when matches got both four or five sets. … UW-River Falls is 7-1 on its home court, while going 10-5 away from home.

Scouting The St. Catherine Wildcats:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
The Wildcats enter this weekend's tournament having won four of their last six matches. … SCU's last two losses have both been 3-0 sweeps — falling to UW-Platteville on Oct. 6 and to Saint Benedict on Wednesday. … Marie O'Neil finished with a team-high seven kills in the Wildcats' 3-0 loss at Saint Benedict Wednesday, while Stephanie Meschke chipped in six. … Brittini Wangerin owns a team-high 238 kills in 23 matches, with Meschke (197), O'Neil (170) and Kelsey Wirtanen (149) also boasting more than 100 kills this season. … Jordyn Wentland and Ashley Kahlow, who each recorded 12 assists vs. Saint Benedict Wednesday, having shared the setting details this season. Wentland is the team-leader with 375 assists, four more than Kahlow. … St. Catherine has served up 143 aces this season, led by Wangerin with 35 and Wentland with 25. … Nicole Pothen boasts a team-best 435 digs, while Wirtanen and Wangerin are second and third on the team with 263 and 256 digs, respectively. … Twelve St. Catherine's 23 matches have been decided by 3-0 decisions — SCU is 6-6 in those 12 matches. … SCU is 2-3 in matches going the maximum five sets — with all three losses coming in a seven-day stretch where the Wildcats fell to Luther, Saint Mary's and Concordia.

Scouting The UW-Stevens Point Pointers:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
UW-Stevens Point enters the weekend ranking No. 19 in the latest AVCA national poll and having won two straight, five of its last six and 12 of its last 14. … The Pointers have been true road warriors this season, playing just two of their 20 matches on their home court. … Christina Brinkman hit .375 and collected a team-high 12 kills in UW-SP's win over UW-Stout Wednesday. … Brinkman's effort vs. UW-Stout pushed her team-leading kill total to 189. She is one of five Pointers with 100 or more kills this season. … Alexis Hartman, who had 36 assists vs. UW-Stout Wednesday, owns a team-high 672 assists through 20 matches. … Cassidy Kohlhagen is the team-leader with 24 aces, while Hannah Picel has amassed a team-high 279 digs. … UW-Stevens Point is 8-1 in three-set matches, while also boasting a perfect 3-0 record in five-setters.

Scouting The UW-Stout Blue Devils:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
The Blue Devils' 3-2 loss to UW-River Falls Wednesday was UW-Stout's second straight loss. … After opening the season with four straight losses, UW-Stout is 10-6 in its last 16 matches. … Wednesday's match vs. UW-River Falls marked just the second time this season the Blue Devils have been extended to a fifth set. UW-Stout is 0-2 in those two five-set matches, having also lost to Hamline on Sept. 7. … UW-Stout, which faces St. Olaf and Saint Mary's this weekend, has already faced six teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, going 0-6. UW-Stout lost to Hamline (3-2 and 3-0) and St. Catherine (3-1, 3-0) twice, while also falling to Saint Benedict (3-0), Concordia (3-0), St. Catherine (3-1). … Molly Brion banged home a team-high 19 kills against UW-River Falls Wednesday and enters this weekend's four matches with 187 kills, six shy of team-leader Kate Mikutowski. … Karley Wiensch, who dished out 36 assists vs. UW-River Falls Wednesday, has accounted for 618 of the team's 696 assists this season. … The Blue Devils boast three players with 20 or more aces, led by Morgan Denny with 24 and Mikutowski with 22. … Megan Shanahan's 219 teams are a team high. … UW-Stout has played just three of its first 20 matches at home, going 2-1. The Blue Devils will play five of their last eight regular-season matches on their home court.