WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as the Cardinals host Hamline in a 7 p.m. match at the SMU Gym.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-3 MIAC | 16-5 overall) vs. Hamline Pipers (3-2 MIAC | 12-9 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals were a perfect 3-0 at last weekend's inaugural Cardinal Invitational, beating Central (Iowa) (3-1), the University of Dubuque (3-0) and Augustana (Ill.) (3-0). … Hamline went 2-2 at the Colorado College Tournament last weekend in Colorado Springs, Colo., sandwiching a pair of 3-0 wins over LaVerne around 3-1 losses to Nebraska Wesleyan and Colorado College

SMU vs. Hamline — Their Last Meeting:
October 20, 2012: SMU was in a streak-snapping mood — which was good news for Cardinal coach Mike Lester, and bad news for visiting Hamline. The Cardinals put an end to their four-match losing streak — while snapping the Pipers' four-match winning streak — with a dominating 3-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at the SMU Gym.

Up Next:
The Cardinals take to the road this weekend, traveling to Naperville, Ill., to take part in the North Central (Ill.) Invitational. SMU will face North Park and UW-Oshkosh on Friday, before squaring off against Wheaton (Ill.) and host North Central on Saturday. … Hamline returns home on Saturday, hosting Moravian and St. Scholastica in a pair of nonconference matches in St. Paul, Minn.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Wednesday's match against Hamline is the last of seven straight home matches for the Cardinals — who play their next eight matches on the road, before closing out the regular-season with a home match against defending national champion St. Thomas on Nov. 2. … With their perfect run through the Cardinal Invitational, SMU has now won four straight. … The Cardinals' 3-0 win over Carleton snapped SMU's season-high three-match losing streak — the only time this season Saint Mary's has lost back-to-back matches. … With their three wins last weekend, the Cardinals improved their record to 7-4 at home — SMU is 9-1 on the road, including 7-0 in neutral-site matches. … SMU's 29-27 Set 1 win over the Knights last Wednesday was the longest set of the season for the Cardinals. … The Cardinals have won the first set in 14 of their 16 wins and 17 times in 21 matches this season. … Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) collected a team-best 46 kills in SMU's three Cardinal Invitational matches last weekend — including a career-best 23-kill effort against Central (Iowa) last Friday. … Peterson's 23 kills are the most by a Cardinal this season and the most since Kara Grant recorded 26 kills against Clarke on Sept. 30, 2011. … Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) chipped in 31 kills and hit a team-best .424 last weekend. … With her 46 kills last weekend, Peterson pushed her team-leading total to 238. Kenzie Lind (Rushford, Minn.) is second with 176 kills, followed by Nordick (141) and Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis. / 106). … Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) posted a season-high 50 assists against Central (Iowa) last Friday and finished the Cardinal Invitational with 111 helpers. … Assimos' 50 assists were not only a season high, but just three assists shy of her career-best 53-assist effort against UW-La Crosse on Sept. 2, 2011. … Assimos has now recorded 40 or more assists six times this season and 26 times in her four-year collegiate career. … Assimos enters Wednesday's match against Hamline with 726 assists and ranks No. 4 all-time with 2,792 assists. … Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) picked up 52 digs at the Cardinal Invitational and now owns a team-leading 372 digs. … Krogstad is one of four Cardinals with 100 or more digs — Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill. / 192), Assimos (176) and Jordan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 165) are the others. … SMU racked up 18 aces in three tournament matches last weekend — led by Thomas with six. … For the fourth time in as many tournaments, Assimos was named to the all-tournament team at the Cardinal 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. Nordick joined Assimos on the Cardinal Invitational all-tournament team. … Ten of SMU's 16 wins have come via 3-0 sweeps, while the other six wins were four-setters. … The Cardinals' 3-1 loss to Macalester on Sept. 24 snapped their school record-tying 11-match winning streak. … With their 3-0 effort at the Cardinal Invitational, SMU improved to 13-2 in the four tournaments they have competed in.

Scouting The Hamline Pipers:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
Wednesday's match at Saint Mary's is just the second road conference match of the season for the Pipers. … Lynsey Reimer picked up 29 digs in the Pipers' last two matches at the Colorado College Tournament last Saturday, allowing her to eclipse the 1,000 career dig mark in just three seasons. The Piper junior enters Wednesday's MIAC match against Saint Mary's with a team-best 351 digs and 1,007 for her career. … Reimer is one of five Pipers with at least 100 digs — Jamie Rubbelke (204), Miquel Green (172), Molly Hurrle (153) and Amelia Jensen (129) are the others. … The Pipers boast five players with 100 or more kills, led by Sam Greeney-Hamline with 211. Stephanie Kaup — who was named to the Colorado College Tournament all-tournament team — is second to Greeney-Hamlin with 180, followed by Caitlyn Gottwald (115), Paige Walters (102) and Katie Ayres (102). … Hurrle owns a team-best 556 assists and has recorded 30 or more helpers in the Pipers' last 12 matches. … Hurrle has eclipsed the 50-assist mark twice, including a season-high 55 assists against Macalester on Oct. 2. … As a team, Hamline has served up 126 aces, led by Jensen (27) and Reimer (24). … The Pipers have won the first and second sets 11 times in their 21 matches this season, while picking up a win in the third set 14 times. … Hamline has been stretched to a fifth set just twice this season —  beating Loras 3-2 on Sept. 13 and Macalester 3-2 on Oct. 2. … Hamline is 4-3 on its home court this season, while going 8-6 away from Hutton Arena.