MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team is back on the court on Saturday, as the Cardinals square off against nationally ranked Augsburg in a 3 p.m. conference contest.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-3 MIAC | 21-6 Overall) at No. 15 Augsburg Auggies (6-1 MIAC | 23-3- Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals got 12 kills from Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) and 10 from Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.), as SMU cruised to a 3-0 win over St. Catherine Friday in St. Paul, Minn. … The Auggies have been off since Wednesday, when Augsburg suffered its first conference loss of the season, falling to defending national champion St. Thomas 3-1 at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn.

SMU vs. Augsburg — A Year Ago:
September 22, 2012: SMU entered its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest against Augsburg riding a season-high four-match winning streak. The Auggies, however, proved to be the speed bump that derailed the Cardinals, as SMU saw that four-match winning streak come to a screeching halt with a 3-1 setback at the SMU Gym.

Up Next:
The Cardinals head to Northfield, Minn., on Wednesday, as SMU squares off against St. Olaf in a 7 p.m. conference match. … Augsburg also returns to conference place on Wednesday, heading to St. Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. MIAC matchup at St. Catherine.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Saturday's match against Augsburg is the sixth 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 Saturday's match against Augsburg having won eight of their last nine matches. … With their 3-0 win over St. Catherine, the Cardinals improved to 21-6 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 11-1 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 Saturay's match at Augsburg ranked No. 3 all-time with 3,042 career assists — just 122 assists behind Brittany Cherwinka for the No. 2 spot. … Assimos, who posted 39 assists vs. St. Catherine Friday, recorded 51 assists against UW-Oshkosh last Friday at the North Central Tiffany Robinson Memorial Touranemnt, 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 24 assists to reach 1,000 assists in a season for the second time in her four years as a Cardinal. … Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) notched a team-best 12 kills against St. Catherine on Friday. … Peterson — who recorded a career-best 23 kills against Central (Iowa) on Oct. 4 — has recorded 10 or more kills in 15 straight matches and 23 times in the Cardinals' 26 matches this season. … Kenzie Lind (Rushford, Minn.) 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 Saturday's conference matches against Augsburg boasting a team-leading 317 kills, while Lind (237), Nordick (197), 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 recoded 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 18 of their 21 wins and 21 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 Augsburg Auggies:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
After back-to-back home matches against St. Thomas and Saint Mary's, the Auggies hit the road for their next three conference matches, before closing out the regular season with a home, nonconference match against UW-River Falls on Nov. 2. … The Auggies head into Saturday's match against Saint Mary's ranked No. 15 in the latest AVCA national poll. … Wednesday's loss to defending national champion St. Thomas snapped the Auggies' 19-match winning streak. Prior to Wednesday's 3-1 loss to UST, Augsburg hadn't lost since a 3-1 setback at the hands of UW-Eau Claire on Sept. 6. … Augsburg enters Saturday's match vs. the Cardinals boasting two players with 300 or more kills — Ashley Peper (391) and Colleen Ourada (320). … Pepper is also hitting a team-best .352, while also adding 13 aces, 39 assists, 206 digs and 40 blocks. … Emily McCourt has amassed 947 assists (11.55 aps), while also leading the team with 23 aces. … McCourt's 23 aces lead five Auggies with 10 or more aces — Katelyn Berens (19), Ourada (18), Mackensie Menke (15) and Peper (13) are the others. … Bernes has accumulated a team-best 442 digs, with Menke (233), Ourada (219) and Peper (206) also owning 200 or more digs through the Auggies' first 26 matches. … Two of Augsburg's three losses have come on its home court — the Auggies are 17-1 on the road, including 13-0 in neutral-site matches. … Nineteen of Augsburg's 23 wins have been by 3-0 sweeps — the Auggies are 19-0 in three-setters.