ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team hits the road for the final time during the 2013 regular season on Saturday, as the Cardinals head to Gustavus for a key 3 p.m. conference showdown with Gustavus.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-4 MIAC | 22-7 Overall) at Gustavus Gusties (3-6 MIAC | 9-18 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals inched closer to a berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournament with a convincing 3-0 win over St. Olaf Wednesday evening in Northfield, Minn. … Gustavus, meanwhile, could not get its offense on track in falling to Bethel 3-0 Wednesday in St. Peter, Minn.

SMU vs. Gustavus — A Year Ago:
October 27, 2012: The Cardinals' heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Carleton three days earlier may have eliminated SMU from Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contention, but you would not have known it by watching the Cardinals on the court against the Gusties. SMU — determined to give their graduating seniors the proper send-off — did just that, as the Cardinals cruised to a 3-0 conference victory over Gustavus at the SMU Gym in the final collegiate match for Carissa Hahn (Hutchinson, Minn.), Cathy Rennie (Pine Island, Minn.), Tara Rasmussen (Kasson, Minn.) and Megan Leisen (Kellogg, Minn.).

Up Next:
The Cardinals are now off until Nov. 2, when they close out the regular season — and honor graduating seniors Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) and Kaylee Bunne (LeRoy, Minn.) — by hosting defending national champion St. Thomas in a 3 p.m. conference match at the SMU Gym. … Gustavus is back in action on Wednesday, as the Gusties travel to St. Paul, Minn., for their final conference match of the season, a 7 p.m. matchup against St. Catherine.

MIAC Playoff Picture:
With two conference matches remaining in the regular season, four of the six MIAC post-season tickets have already been punched by Concordia (9-0), St. Thomas (8-1), Augsburg (8-1) and Saint Benedict (7-2). SMU is currently holding the fifth ticket at 5-4, one game ahead of Hamline (4-5), Macalester (4-5) and Bethel (4-5) and two games up on Gustavus (3-6). A win over Gustavus will virtually assure the Cardinals of a post-season berth.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Saturday's match against Gustavus is the eighth straight road match for the Cardinals. … SMU's victory over St. Olaf Wednesday was its 22nd win of the season — the most wins in a season since 2009, when the Cardinals won 22 en route to an NCAA Division III national tournament appearance. … The Cardinals have won 20 or more matches seven times under coach Mike Lester. … With their 3-0 win over St. Olaf, SMU heads into Saturday's showdown with Gustavus 10-2 in its last 12 matches. … The Cardinals' win over the Oles Wednesday was their 13th 3-0 victory of the season. … SMU carries an impressive 14-3 road record into Saturday's match at Gustavus. … Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) accounted for 20 of the Cardinals' 47 kills in their sweep of St. Olaf Wednesday. … Peterson's 20-kill effort marked the second time this season she has eclipsed 20 kills in a match. It was also three kills shy of her career-high 23-kill showing against Central (Iowa) on Oct. 4. … Peterson has notched 10 or more kills in 17 straight matches and 25 times in the Cardinals' 29 matches this season. … Kenzie Lind (Rushford, Minn.) equaled her career high with 17 kills against North Central on Oct. 12, while Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) notched a career-best 19-kill performance against Wheaton (Ill.) on Oct. 12. … 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 match at Gustavus boasting a team-leading 356 kills, while Kenzie Lind (Rushford, Minn. / 262), Nordick (209), Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn. / 127), Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis. / 119), Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill. / 115) and Kaylee Bunne (LeRoy, Minn. / 103) have also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau. … Assimos collected 42 assists against the Oles Wednesday, giving the senior a single-season career-high 1,060 assists in 29 matches this season. … Assimos, who has now recorded 1,000 or more assists twice in her four-year collegiate career, currently ranks No. 3 all-time with 3,126 assists — 38 shy of No. 2 Brittany Cherwinka (3,164). … Assimos' 51 assists against UW-Oshkosh on Oct. 11 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 showing against UW-La Crosse on Sept. 2, 2011. … Assimos has now recorded 40 or more assists 11 times this season and 31 times in her collegiate career. … After recording 502 digs as a freshman a year ago, Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) has done that one better this year, heading into Saturday's match against Gustavus with a team-leading 503 digs to give the sophomore libero 1,005 career digs in her two-year collegiate career. … Krogstad is one of six Cardinals with 100 or more digs — Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill. / 276), Assimos (256), Jordan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 255), Brooke Schilling (Altura, Minn. / 153) and Lind (121) are the others. … Wolfe equaled her career best with a team-best 16 digs against Hamline on Oct. 9. … SMU has recoded 157 aces this season — led by Thomas with 42. … 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 19 of their 22 wins and 21 times in 29 matches this season. … 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. … SMU's 3-2 loss to Wheaton (Ill.) at the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament on Oct. 12 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.

Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Wednesday's 3-0 loss to Bethel pushed the Gusties' losing streak to five straight. … GAC heads into Saturday's matchup against Saint Mary's having won just once in its last 10 matches. … Alyssa Taylor is the team's offensive leader, hammering out a team-best 287 kills, while also leading the squad with a .244 attack percentage. … GAC boasts three players — Taylor (287), Janessa Jahnke (23) and Kelle Nett (206) — with 200 or more kills, while Becca Woodstra is fourth on the team with 136 kills. … Taylor Meurer and Kendra Weege have shared the setting duties for the Gusties, compiling 582 and 344 assists, respectively. … Along with her 206 kills, Nett has also posted a team-high 30 aces, a total equaled by Paige Breneman. … Breneman has recorded a team-best 463 digs, while Haley Zweber (242), Weege (180), Woodstra (164) and Meurer (107) have also eclipsed the 100-dig mark. … Twelve of Gustavus' 18 losses have come in three sets, while the Gusties are 4-1 in four-set matches and just 2-5 in five-setters. … Five of GAC's nine wins this season have come on their home court. The Gusties are just 4-14 away from Gus Young Court.