MANKATO, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team is back in action this weekend, traveling to the Bethany Lutheran Tournament. SMU opens with UW-Superior and Wartburg on Friday, before closing out the two-day tourney against UW-Oshkosh and host Bethany Lutheran on Saturday.



The Cardinals' Matchups:
Friday, Sept. 7, 2012
4 p.m.: SMU Cardinals (3-2 Overall) vs. UW-Superior Yellowjackets (4-0 Overall)
8 p.m.: SMU Cardinals vs. Wartburg Knights (3-1 Overall)
Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012
10 a.m.: SMU Cardinals vs. UW-Oshkosh Titans (4-2 Overall)
2 p.m.: SMU Cardinals vs. Bethany Lutheran Vikings (1-4 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats (vs. Oshkosh & Bethany Lutheran) | Tournament Homepage

Last Action:
The Cardinals won the opening set in its nonconference match against UW-La Crosse Wednesday, but the Eagles rattled off wins in the next three sets to hand SMU a 3-1 setback in La Crosse, Wis. … UW-Superior cruised to a perfect 4-0 record at the season-opening Mount Mary Tournament in Milwaukee, Wis. The Yellowjackets beat Grace Bible College (3-0), Crown (3-0) and Mount Mary twice (3-1 and 3-0). … Wartburg kicked off its home schedule on a winning note, cruising to a 3-0 win over Grinnell Tuesday in Waverly, Iowa. … UW-Oshkosh picked up a pair of 3-0 wins on Wednesday in Madison, Wis., sweeping both Edgewood and the University of Dubuque. …  Bethany Lutheran got in the win column Tuesday evening, cruising to a 3-0 win over Buena Vista in the Vikings' home opener in Mankato, Minn.

SMU vs. UW-Superior — Their Last Meeting:
Oct. 1, 2011: The Cardinals opened the second day of the University of Dubuque Tournament with a convincing 3-0 victory over UW-Superior in a match that SMU controlled from start to finish — opening with a 25-22 win, outlasting the Yellowjackets 28-26 in the second set, then completing the sweep with a 25-13 win in the third set.

SMU vs. Wartburg — Their Last Meeting:
Sept. 11, 2010: SMU, which had its five-match winning streak snapped with a 3-0 loss to unbeaten Nebraska Wesleyan during the opening day of the Wartburg Invitational, returned to its winning ways on Day 2, sweeping Buena Vista 3-0, then knocking off host Wartburg 3-1 to finish the two-day tournament with a 3-1 mark.

SMU vs. UW-Oshkosh — Their Last Meeting:
Sept. 8, 2007: The Titans escaped with a 31-29 Game 1 victory, then took the match over, winning both Sets 2 and 3 by 30-22 marks en route to beating the Cardinals 3-0 and winning the SMU/Jefferson's Sugar Loaf Classic title.

SMU vs. Bethany Lutheran — Their Last Meeting:
Sept. 22, 2007: The Cardinals, fresh off a 3-1 victory over Mount Mercy and a 3-1 loss against Luther in the first day of the two-day Luther Tournament, wasted little time getting back into win column, rolling to a pair of 3-0 victories over Coe and Bethany Lutheran to complete a 3-1 run through the tournament.

Up Next For The Cardinals:
The Cardinals kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. match against Macalester.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
Wednesday's loss to UW-La Crosse marked the first time this season the Cardinals have dropped a match when winning the opening set. … Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) collected a team-high 11 kills and hit .321 against the Eagles Wednesday. … Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) accounted for 34 of the team's 37 assists vs. the Eagles, while Cathy Rennie (Pine Island, Minn.) notched 15 digs. … Rennie was one of four Cardinals with 10 or more digs vs. UW-L — Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill. / 14), Assimos (12) and Carissa Hahn (Hutchinson, Minn. / 12) were the other three. … Nordick enters this weekend's Bethany Lutheran Tournament with a team-best 48 kills, seven more than Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn.). … Assimos, who closed out her sophomore season a year ago with 1,036 assists, has collected 171 assists in five matches this season. … Krogstad has amassed a team-leading 83 digs, with Hahn (68) and Rennie (59) close behind. … With their 3-1 showing at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic, the Cardinals have now finished with a 3-1 record in five of their last six regular-season tournaments. … SMU is boasting a combined 16-2 record in its last four Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic and is now 42-22 in the tournament's 16-year history. … Assimos and Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn.) were both named to the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic All-Tournament Team. … Assimos has now been named to the all-tournament team in five of the Cardinals' last six regular-season tournaments.

Scouting The UW-Superior Yellowjackets:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
The Yellowjackets play 12 of their first 14 matches on the road. … UW-Superior dropped just one set at the season-opening Mount Mary Tournament, falling in Set 2 in their first meeting vs. Mount Mary. … UW-Superior needed just 52 minutes to sweep Grace Bible College in its first match at the Mount Mary Tournament. … Kitty Tynen collected a team-best 32 kills at the Mount Mary Tournament, while teammate Nikki Gosson was close behind with 30. … Tynen hit an impressive .467, leading UW-Superior to a .322 attack percentage through four tournament matches. … Keely Deadrick dished out 128 assists, while also adding a team-high 15 aces. … Farrah Wirtz collected a team-best 41 digs and was one of four Yellowjackets with 20 or more digs in the tournament's four matches. … After a disappointing 9-27 showing in 2010, the Yellowjackets nearly doubled their win total a year ago, finishing 16-17 overall. The 16 wins were the most since 2007, when the Yellowjackets won 21 times. … The last time the Yellowjackets finished a season above the .500 mark was 2007 when they went 21-13.

Scouting The Wartburg Knights:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
Wartburg — which returns five starters, including four All-IIAC honorees — enters the weekend ranked No. 21 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25. … The Knights were picked No. 1 in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Preseason Poll. … Britlyn Sieck led the way for Wartburg against Grinnell Tuesday, recording 15 kills. … Sieck returns for her senior season ranking third in the program's list of career leaders in kills (1,345). She has been a three-time First-team All-Conference selection and a two-time AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region honoree. … Sieck is the team's kill leader through four matches with 57, while Ramey Sieck owns a team-best 108 assists and five aces, and is second in kills with 35. … Marissa Shinstine has accumulated a team-best 59 kills, 17 more than Ramey Sieck. … All three of Wartburg's wins this season have come in three sets. … Wartburg will face seven opponents ranked in the AVCA Top 25 Preseason Poll —  including defending national champion, Wittenburg. The Knights will cross paths with No. 5 Wittenburg, No. 7 St. Thomas, No. 11 Elmhurst, No. 12 Carthage, No. 17 UW-Whitewater, No. 19 Concordia-Moorhead and No. 24 Trinity (Texas) this season.

Scouting The UW-Oshkosh Titans:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
After trading wins and losses through their first four matches this season, the Titans did not lose a set against Edgewood and the University of Dubuque Wednesday, while not allowing more than 20 points in any of the six sets. … UW-Oshkosh plays its first 12 matches on the road this season. The Titans do not play their home opener until Sept. 14, when they kick-off play in the two-day, UW-Oshkosh/Pizza Hut Classic. … Jordyn Bratel enters tournament play this weekend boasting a team-best 47 kills, five more than Larissa Krumplitsch. … Morgan Liebetrau has amassed 152 assists through six matches, while Robyn Eggert owns the team lead with 82 digs. … Eggert is one of five Titans with 20 or more digs through six matches. … Mandy Trautmann is the team leader in aces with eight. … All four of UW-Oshkosh's wins have been by 3-0 scores. Both losses, meanwhile, have been 3-1 decisions. … UW-Oshkosh, which has won or shared the WIAC title five times in the past seven seasons, returns five starters and eight letterwinners from last year's squad that posted an 18-18 record.

Scouting The Bethany Lutheran Vikings:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
After opening the season with four straight losses at the Elmhurst Invitational, the Vikings picked up their first win of the season Tuesday with their 3-0 win over Buena Vista. … Three of Bethany Lutheran's four losses at the Elmhurst Invitational were by 3-0 decisions. … Shelby Wiederhoeft and Alyssa Fredrickson shared the team lead with seven kills each vs. Buena Vista, while Emily Franzen had 21 assists and Kasslin Swenson tallied 12 digs. … Coming off a 5-16 season a year ago, Bethany Lutheran's 2012 roster consists of one junior, 10 sophomores and three freshmen. … The Vikings lost senior Amanda Edmison — who led the team in kills last season — to graduation, but they do return their second- and third-best offensive performers in Shelby Wiederhoeft (209) and Caitlin Decker (142. … Wiederhoeft also led the team in blocks with 54, while Krissy Schemmel finished with a team-leading 552 assists.