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WINONA, Minn. — Thanks to an impressive 3-0 victory over Concordia in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoff quarterfinals, the Saint Mary's University volleyball team headed into Thursday's semifinal match-up with defending national champion St. Thomas with plenty of momentum — and a full head of steam.
And that wave of momentum continued in the opening set against the Tommies.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, a Set 1 win may have given SMU a 1-0 advantage in the best-of five match — but it also woke a sleeping giant.
St. Thomas rattled off three straight set wins to eliminate Saint Mary's 3-1 at Schoenecker Arena.
"I've said all season that if you are going to beat St. Thomas, you are going to have to play a perfect match — and we were almost there," said SMU coach
Mike Lester. "I thought we played better today than we did (Tuesday) against Concordia.
"St. Thomas got off a couple of runs in the middle two sets and that fourth set could have gone either way — it was a great match, unfortunately, we came out on the short end."
If the Cardinals were intimidated by the Tommies' pedigree — which included a 2012 NCAA Division III national title and a No. 4 ranking in the latest AVCA national poll — they certainly didn't show it.
Riding that wave of momentum generated by Tuesday's win over the Cobbers, SMU opened the semifinal match with an impressive Set 1 win — a set that included eight ties, the last at 22-22. The Cardinals rattled off the final three points of the set for a 25-22 win — and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five match.
The Tommies recovered from just the second set loss in their last 10 matches with an impressive 25-20 Set 2 victory. But the win was anything but easy for UST. St. Thomas raced out to leads of 9-2 and 11-4, but the Cardinals clawed their way back, tying the match 19-19, only to have the Tommies score six of the next seven points to even the match at a set apiece.
UST took advantage of the momentum swing to push its lead to 2-1 — leading from start to finish in the third set en route to a 25-15 victory.
After failing to hold the lead at any time during the third set, SMU rattled off the first two points of the fourth set. That, however, would be the last time the Cardinals would lead, as UST scored four straight for a 4-2 advantage and pushed that lead to five, 21-16. Down, but far from out, the Cardinals again clawed their way back, knotting the score at 22-22, only to have UST use a 3-1 run to seal the win.
Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) and
Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals (24-9), with Peterson equaling her career high with 23 kills, while Nordick chipped in14. Nordick hit a team-best .414, while
Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, lll.) dished out 37 assists and added 18 digs.
Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) posted a team-high 19 digs for SMU, with
Brooke Schilling (Altura, Minn.) adding 18.
Kelly Foley had 21 kills and Jill Greenfield added 15 for the Tommies, while Maddie Reese dished out 36 assists and McKenna Reagan tallied 27 digs.
"The ladies gave it everything they had tonight," Lester said. "And they certainly have no reason to hang their heads."
The Cardinals (24-9) must now wait until Monday to see if their 24 wins — most since SMU won 27 during the 2000 season — are enough to earn SMU an at-large bid and their third NCAA Division III national tournament appearance under coach Lester.
