Box Score  | GameDay Preview

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University volleyball coach Mike Lester would have loved to had his team go 2-0 during the opening day of the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic.

But the Cardinal head coach would also be hard-pressed to feel bad about his team's 1-1 opening-day effort.

After cruising to a 3-0 victory over Lakeland in their first match Friday, the Cardinals could not shake off a slow start, falling to Dominican 3-1.

"I actually thought we played better (against Dominican)," said Lester. "There's a reason they were a national tournament team a year ago and are a Top 25 team this year — they are a very good team.

"We got off to a bit of a slow start in the first two sets, but I thought we played very well in the last two," Lester added. "We had a lot of people step up and play very well today — it was a good start and I certainly liked a lot of things I saw."

Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn.) led a trio of Cardinals with 10 or more kills, collecting 12, while hitting .323. Alex Peterson (Harmony) followed up a 12-kill effort against Lakeland with 11 kills against the Stars, while Kenzie Lind (Rushford, Minn.) chipped in 10.

Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) accounted for 40 of the team's 45 assists, while Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) finished with a team-best 20 digs. Brooke Schilling (Altura, Minn.) chipped in 17 digs, following by Assimos with 12 and Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) with 11.

The Cardinals are back on the court on Saturday, squaring off against Luther at noon and St. Scholastica at 4 p.m.