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WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University volleyball coach Mike Lester decided to shake up his line-up a bit when his Cardinals took the court for Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against Carleton.

One of the changes was inserting Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) into the starting rotation.

And what a debut it was for the Cardinal sophomore.

MacVey sparked a 14-0, Set 2 run by serving up 13 straight points, then was at it again in the third set, serving six consecutive points to spark a late rally and lift the Cardinals to a 3-0 conference win over the Knights at the SMU Gym.

"Give our ladies credit — they never panicked and they never gave up," said Lester, whose team snapped a season-high three-match losing streak with the win. "And you certainly have to tip your cap to Tayler — she was outstanding tonight. Her performance may not necessarily show up in the box score, but her serving was the difference in the match."

The final 3-0 score may make Wednesday's victory seem like a walk in the park for the Cardinals.

It was anything but.

The Cardinals trailed the entire first set, until grabbing their first lead, 25-24, en route to a 29-27 Set 1 victory. SMU did make the second set look easy — thanks to MacVey — as the Cardinals rattled off 14 straight points, 13 on serves by MacVey, in cruising to a 25-10 win.

It was back to rally mode for SMU in the third and final set, as Carleton jumped out to leads of 17-9 and 21-16.

Enter MacVey.

The sophomore ignited a 7-0 run with six straight service points to give the Cardinals a 22-21 advantage — their first lead since an Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) kill gave SMU a 1-0 edge. The Cardinals would not relinquish the lead again, scoring three of the set's final five points to seal the 25-23 match-clinching victory.

"We just kept battling," said Lester. "It didn't matter the score, the ladies just hung in there and kept scratching and clawing to get back in it. It was a great team effort."

Peterson and Kenzie Lind (Rushford, Minn.) led the Cardinals' offensive attack, collecting 12 kills each, while Kaylee Bunne (LeRoy, Minn.) recorded six kills and hit a team-leading .462. Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) dished out 37 assists and Lex Krogstad posted a team-best 13 digs for SMU, which improved to 2-3 in conference play and 13-5 overall.

Karen Halls had nine kills, and Caroline Duke and Alicia Flatt tallied 18 and 13 assists, respectively, for the Knights (0-4 MIAC, 9-8 overall).

The Cardinals are back in action this weekend, taking part in the inaugural Cardinal Invitational. SMU will face Central (Iowa) on Friday at 5 p.m., before squaring off against Augustana and the University of Dubuque on Saturday.