MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team hits the road for the opening round of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs on Tuesday, as the Cardinals head to Concordia for a 7 p.m. showdown against the Cobbers.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-5 MIAC (T-5th) | 23-8 overall) at Concordia Cobbers (9-2 MIAC (T-3rd) | 19-10 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats * Live Video | MIAC Playoff Homepage

MIAC Playoff Schedule:
Quarterfinals: Tuesday, Nov. 5 - 7 p.m.
No. 6 Hamline at No. 3 Saint Benedict | St. Joseph, Minn.
No. 5 Saint Mary's at No. 4 Concordia | Moorhead, Minn.
Semifinals: Thursday, Nov. 7 - 7 p.m.
SMU-Concordia winner at No. 1 St. Thomas | St. Paul, Minn.
Hamline-CSB winner at No. 2 Augsburg | Minneapolis, Minn.
Championship: Saturday, Nov. 9  - 7 p.m.
Lowest remaining seed at Highest remaining seed

How They Got Here:
St. Thomas (26-2) and Augsburg (28-3) both finished the regular season with a 10-1 conference record to bring a pair of very different titles to their schools. This is the seventh season in a row St. Thomas has earned at least a share of the regular-season title, while Augsburg is celebrating its first-ever regular season title. The Tommies beat Augsburg 3-1 in their regular-season meeting, giving UST the top seed in the MIAC playoffs, while Augsburg is the second seed. Both receive a first-round bye in the six-team playoff bracket and will host a semifinal match on Thursday, Nov. 7. The rest of the playoff seeds were also decided by head-to-head tiebreakers. Saint Benedict (24-2) and Concordia (19-10) tied for third with identical 9-2 conference records. The Blazers — by virtue of their 3-0 win over the Cobbers on Oct. 26 — grabbed the tournament's No. 3 seed while Concordia will be seeded fourth. Both will host a quarterfinal match on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Saint Mary's and Hamline (19-12) grabbed the final two spots in the postseason tournament, as the two tied for fifth place with 6-5 records in MIAC play. The Cardinals defeated the Pipers 3-1 on Oct. 9, so Saint Mary's received the No. 5 seed and Hamline is slotted in at No. 6. Both teams will hit the road Tuesday to open the postseason | MIAC Release

SMU vs. Concordia — Earlier This Year:
September 28, 2013: For the first time in SMU's first 17 matches, the Cardinals were extended to a fifth set against Concordia. Unfortunately for SMU, the "veteran" Cobbers — owners of two five-set wins in three tries this season — rattled off the first six points of the decisive final set and the Cardinals never recovered, falling 15-9 to drop the conference decision to Concordia 3-2 at the SMU Gym.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
The Cardinals are making their first MIAC playoff appearance since 2010 and their ninth post-season appearance under coach Mike Lester. … SMU's victory over Gustavus on Oct. 26 was its 23nd win of the season — the most wins in a season since 2000, when the Cardinals won 27 en route to their first-ever MIAC regular-season title and an NCAA Division III national tournament appearance. … The Cardinals have won 20 or more matches seven times under coach Lester. … SMU heads into post-season play with an 11-3 record over its last 14 matches. … The Cardinals head into Tuesday's tournament match at Concordia boasting a 15-3 record on the road this season. … Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) was held to eight kills against defending national champion St. Thomas last Saturday, marking just the third time in SMU's 31 matches that the sophomore has been held under 10 kills in a match. … Peterson's eight-kill effort also snapped a streak of 18 straight matches with 10 of more kills. … Peterson has eclipsed 20 kills in a match twice this season — collecting 20 kills vs. St. Olaf on Oct. 23 and a career-high 23 kills against Central (Iowa) on Oct. 4. … Peterson's 23-kill match 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. … Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) and Kenzie Lind (Rushford, Minn.) have also put together career-high kill performances this season. Nordick notched a career-best 19 kills against Wheaton (Ill.) on Oct. 12, while Lind has recorded a career-best 17 kills twice — against North Central on Oct. 12 and vs. Concordia on Sept. 28. … Peterson heads into Tuesday's tournament-opening against Concordia boasting a team-leading 385 kills, while Lind (261) and Nordick (232) have also recorded 200 or more kills this season. … Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) closed out the regular-season with a single-season career-high to 1,126 assists. … Assimos, who has posted 1,000 or more assists twice in her four-year collegiate career, currently ranks No. 2 all-time with 3,192 career assists. … 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 shattered that mark this year, heading into Tuesday's match against Concordia with a team-leading 523 digs — giving the sophomore libero 1,025 career digs in her two years in a Cardinal uniform. … Krogstad's 523 digs this season rank No. 4 all-time, 40 digs shy of Theresa Perrini's 563 digs during the 2006 season. … Krogstad is one of four Cardinals with 200 or more digs — Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill. / 274), Assimos (268) and Jordan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 262) are the others. … Wolfe equaled her career best with a team-best 16 digs against Hamline on Oct. 9. … SMU has recorded 151 aces this season — led by Thomas with 38 and Assimos with 35. … 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 20 of their 23 wins and 22 times in 31 matches this season. … Thirteen of the Cardinals' 23 wins have come in 3-0 sweeps. On the flip side, SMU has been swept just three times 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 Concordia Cobbers:
2013 Roster | 2013 Statistics | 2013 Schedule
The Cobbers head into post-season play boasting a 19-10 overall record, leaving CC one win shy of its third 20-win season in the last five years. … Concordia has lost three of its last four matches — including a split against UM-Morris (W, 3-0) and Northwestern (L, 3-0) in their regular-season finale last Saturday. … Concordia's two conference losses came in their final two MIAC matches of the season — falling to playoff-bound Saint Benedict and Augsburg by identical 3-0 scores. … Kynndyl Ross leads the Cobbers with 311 kills, whie Kayla Hampton is second in kills with 226 and leads the team with a .270 attack percentage. … CC boasts seven players with 100 or more kills this season. Along with Ross and Hampton, Anna Skow-Anderson (186), Olivia Wangensteen (177), Kelly Reed (155), Heather Beaner (115) and Angie Waller (106) have also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau. … Mandy Mercil and Jena Klaphake have accounted for 1,126 of the team's 1,247 assists this season, with Mercil collecting a team-best 685 assists, while Klaphake is close behind at 441. … The Cobbers have delivered 157 service aces this season, led by Alyssa Schmidt (33), Hampton (24) and Klaphake (24). … Concordia boasts two players with 400 of more digs — Schmidt (409) and Waller (400). … Five of the Cobbers' 10 losses have been 3-0 sweeps, while eight of CC's 19 wins have lasted just three sets. … Concordia has won five of the six five-set matches they have played in this season — including a 3-2 win over Saint Mary's in their regular-season meeting on Sept. 28.