WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team begins the regular-season stretch run on Friday, as the Cardinals host nationally ranked St. Thomas in a 7 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at the SMU Gym.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-4 MIAC | 12-12 Overall)
vs. No. 7 St. Thomas Tommies (7-0 MIAC | 28-1 Overall

GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Action:
The Cardinals are coming off their final nonconference tournament of the season, finishing 1-3 at the UW-Stout Invitational. SMU splits its two matches last Friday, beating UW-River Falls 3-1, while falling to St. Catherine 3-2, then fell to UW-Stevens Point 3-1 and UW-Stout 3-2 on Saturday. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, went a perfect 4-0 at the UW-La Crosse Invitational last weekend, beating Luther 3-0 and UW-La Crosse 3-2 on Friday, then sweeping UW-Superior 3-0 and Loras 3-0 on Saturday.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — Their Last Meeting:
October 21, 2011: For the fourth time in as many Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches, SMU squared off against a league-leader when they took the court against St. Thomas. Unfortunately for the Cardinals and coach Mike Lester, the result was the same, as the nationally ranked Tommies handed SMU a 3-0 conference setback.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are right back in action on Saturday, as they host Hamline in a 3 p.m. MIAC contest at the SMU Gym. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, also returns to the court on Saturday, as the Tommies host Augsburg at 3 p.m. in St. Paul, Minn.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
Last weekend's matches at the UW-Stout Invitational were the final road matches of the regular season for the Cardinals. 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. … Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) collected 119 assists at the UW-Stout Invitational — including 44 against UW-Stout and 42 against UW-River Falls. … Assimos' 44 assists vs. UW-Stout were one shy of her season-high 45 assists recorded against Concordia on Sept. 29. … Assimos has now recorded 40 or more assists four times this season and enters Friday's match vs. St. Thomas with a team-best 689 assists. … Assimos is now 61 assists shy of 2,000 for her career. … Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) and Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) each enjoyed career performances against UW-Stout, as Krogstad collected a career-best 36 digs, while Rasmussen chipped in a career-high 30. … Krogstad owns a team-leading 431 digs. She is one of five Cardinals with 100 or more digs. … Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) finished with the UW-Stout Invitational with 47 kills and hit a team-best .345. Carissa Hahn (Hutchinson, Minn.) and Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn.) chipped in 38 and 34 kills, respectively. … SMU has recorded 126 services aces this season — including 30 at the UW-Stout Invitational. Cathy Rennie (Pine Island, Minn.) is the team-leader with 27 aces, with Krogstad second with 22 and Assimos third with 20. … Five of the Cardinals' 12 wins have been 3-0 sweeps. SMU's 3-2 losses to St. Catherine last Friday and UW-Stout on Saturday were its first five-set setbacks of the season — the Cardinals are now 2-2 in matches that have gone the distance. …
SMU has won the first set in 11 of its 12 wins. The Cardinals' 3-1 win over the University of Dubuque at the UW-Platteville Invitational on Oct. 6 marks the only 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 St. Thomas Tommies:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
St. Thomas enters this weekend's conference matches ranked No. 7 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll. … The Tommies arrive in Winona Friday riding a 23-match winning streak — the longest current streak in NCAA Division III. … The Tommies head into the final eight days of the conference season atop the MIAC standings at 7-0 and holding a one-match lead over Saint Benedict. … The Tommies have been ranked nationally in 89 of the last 90 national polls… The 28-1 season start is the best ever by a conference team… UST is looking to win or share an unprecedented sixth consecutive MIAC championship and the Tommies are just two wins shy of posting their third consecutive 30-win season. … The Tommies won three of their four matches at the UW-La Crosse Invitational last weekend by 3-0 counts. Nineteen of UST's 28 wins have been by 3-0 sweeps. … The Tommies needed five sets to beat UW-La Crosse last weekend. It was just the third time this season UST has been extended to a fifth set. … UST's lone loss this season was a 3-2 setback against fourth-ranked Emory on Sept. 7. … Kelly Foley surpassed 750 career kills last weekend and enters Friday's match against Saint Mary's boasting a team-best 278 kills. Paige Brimeyer has also amassed more than 200 kills this season, compiling 202 in 25 matches. … Katie Maher and Sarah Kosbab have shared the setting duties for the Tommies, with Maher collecting a team-leading 501 assists, while Kosbab is close behind at 403. … UST has four players with 100 or more digs, led by Kaiti Wachter with 459. … St. Thomas is 90-11 since September, 2010, and owns a combined 48-4 record in its last 13 regular-season tournaments. … UST, which returns home on Saturday for its final regular-season home match, has won 23 straight on its home court.