ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team takes to the road for a pair of key Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches this weekend, beginning Friday with a 7 p.m. match against St. Catherine.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-3 MIAC | 20-6 Overall) at St. Catherine (1-5 MIAC | 8-15 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats * Video | Video Preview

Last Action:
The Cardinals completed the nonconference portion of their schedule in impressive fashion, going 3-1 at the North Central (Ill.) Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament last weekend. SMU opened with a 3-1 win over North Park and a 3-2 victory vs. UW-Oshkosh last Friday, before falling to Wheaton (Ill.) 3-2 and beating host North Central 3-0 on Saturday. … St. Catherine finished 1-2 last weekend at the UW-Whitewater Invitational in Whitewater, Wis. The Wildcats opened with a 3-1 loss to Washington (Mo.) University last Friday, then fell to host UW-Whitewater 3-0, before sweeping Westminster (Mo.) 3-0 in its final match of the tournament.

SMU vs. St. Catherine — A Year Ago:
September 19, 2012: The Cardinals 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 in which SMU grabbed an early lead and never relinquished it, winning 16-14 to seal the 3-2 MIAC victory at the SMU Gym.
October 12, 2012: SMU and St. Catherine squared off for the second time this season — and for the second time, the match went the distance. This time around, however, it was the Wildcats coming out on top, outlasting the Cardinals 3-2 during the opening day of the UW-Stout Invitational.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are right back in action on Saturday, as SMU travels across town to Minneapolis, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference match against nationally ranked Augsburg. … St. Catherine is also back on the court on Saturday, traveling to Macalester for a 3 p.m. MIAC match against the Scots.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Friday's match against St. Catherine is the fifth of eight straight road matches for the Cardinals, who do not return home until Nov. 2, when they close out the regular season with a conference match against defending national champion St. Thomas. … The Cardinals enter Friday's match against St. Catherine having won eight of their last nine matches. … With their 3-1 showing last weekend at the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament, the Cardinals improved to 20-6 overall, marking the seventh time under coach Mike Lester that SMU has reached the 20-win plateau. … SMU's 3-2 loss to Wheaton (Ill.) at the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament last Saturday snapped the Cardinals' 13-match regular-season tournament winning streak. … SMU finished with a 16-3 record in its five regular-season tournaments this season. … SMU is 9-1 in neutral-site matches this season — the only blemish last Saturday's 3-2 loss to Wheaton (Ill.). The Cardinals have also lost just one road match this season, going 10-1 away from home heading into Friday's match at St. Catherine. … For the fifth time in as many regular-season tournaments, Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) was named to the all-tournament team last weekend at the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Invitational. Assimos was also named to the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic, North Park Viking Clash and Ripon Red Hawk Invitational all-tournament teams this season. … Thanks to her 170 assists in the Cardinals' four tournament matches last weekend, Assimos eclipsed the 3,000-career assist mark. The senior setter heads into Friday's match at St. Catherine ranked No. 3 all-time with 3,003 career assists — just 161 assists behind Brittany Cherwinka for the No. 2 spot. … Assimos' 51 assists against UW-Oshkosh last Friday were not only a season high — one more than the 50-assist effort against Central (Iowa) on Oct. 4 — but just two assists shy of her career-best 53-assist effort against UW-La Crosse on Sept. 2, 2011. … Assimos — who has now recorded 40 or more assists nine times this season and 29 times in her collegiate career — needs just 63 assists to reach 1,000 assists in a season for the second time in her four years as a Cardinal. … Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) and Kenzie Lind (Rushford, Minn.) led the Cardinal offense last weekend, compiling 55 and 54 kills, respectively. … Peterson — who recorded a career-best 23 kills against Central (Iowa) on Oct. 4 — has recorded 10 or more kills in 14 straight matches and 22 times in the Cardinals' 26 matches this season. … Lind equaled her career high with 17 kills against North Central last Saturday, while Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) notched a career-best 19-kill performance against Wheaton (Ill.) on Saturday. … Peterson's 23-kill effort against Central (Iowa) on Oct. 4 was the most by a Cardinal this season and the most since Kara Grant recorded 26 kills against Clarke on Sept. 30, 2011. … Peterson heads into this weekend's conference matches against St. Catherine and Augsburg boasting a team-leading 305 kills, while Lind (237), Nordick (187), Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis. / 115), Assimos (109) and Molly Grover (Zumborta, Minn. / 106) have also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau. … Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) heads into the weekend with a team-leading 451 digs. … Krogstad is one of six Cardinals with 100 or more digs — Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill. / 254), Assimos (231), Jordan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 228), Brooke Schilling (Altura, Minn. / 121) and Lind (113) are the others. … Wolfe equaled her career best with a team-best 16 digs against Hamline on Oct. 9. … SMU has amassed 149 aces this season — led by Thomas with 41. … SMU's 29-27 Set 1 win against Carleton on Oct. 2 was the longest set of the season for the Cardinals. … The Cardinals have won the first set in 17 of their 20 wins and 20 times in 26 matches this season. … Eleven of SMU's 20 wins have come via 3-0 sweeps.  The Cardinals' 3-2 win over UW-Oshkosh last Friday was the first five-set victory of the season for SMU. … The Cardinals' 3-1 loss to Macalester on Sept. 24 snapped their school record-tying 11-match winning streak. … SMU has lost back-to-back matches just once all season.

Scouting The St. Catherine Wildcats:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Four of the Wildcats' next five matches — all Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contests — are at home, where SCU is 4-6 this season. … St. Catherine snapped a season-high six-match losing streak with a 3-2 win over Carleton on Oct. 9. With their 1-2 showing at the UW-Whitewater Tournament, the Wildcats are 2-8 in their last 10 matches. … SCU boasts six players with 100 or more kills, led by Jana Christensen's team-best 165 kills. Abigail Palmer (148), Zoe Peterson (136), Alyssa Besch (124), Amber Zeiher (117) and Maddy Mullins (110) have also eclipsed 100 kills this season. … Karsee Knutson owns a team-leading 437 assists, with Ashle Kahlow and Jordyn Wentland chipping in 197 and 163 helpers, respectively. … Knutson also boasts the team lead in aces with 24, three more than Kahlow and four better than Besch. … Shanee Herd has compiled a team-high 346 digs, with Shelby Rachel (285) and Abigail Palmer (214) also surpassing the 200-dig plateau. … St. Catherine is 6-6 in three-set matches this season, while going 2-4 in matches that have been extended to a fifth set. The Wildcats are winless in four-set matches this season, going 0-6.