Box Score  | GameDay Preview

WINONA, Minn. — For the Saint Mary's University volleyball team, the game plan for winning has been rather simple of late — win the first set, win the match.

For the second time this season — and for the 15th time in their last 16 wins — the Cardinals opened their match against St. Scholastica with a 25-21 victory.

And while the Saints had the upper hand in Set 2 with a 25-23 win, the Cardinals rebounded with wins in Sets 3 and 4 — 25-22 and 25-19 — to seal the 3-1 victory Saturday during their final match of the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic.

"That was a good bounce-back win for us," said SMU coach Mike Lester, whose team dropped a 3-0 decision to Luther earlier in the day. "We did not play very well in our first match against Luther, but I thought we played very well (against St. Scholastica).

"We had a lot of young players step up and really come through for us — and if we are going to be successful this season's, we are going to need them to play like that."

Macki Fadness shined the brightest among Lester's young stars, as the sophomore delivered 15 kills and hit .312 against the Saints. Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) — the Cardinals' mainstay at setter for the past four seasons — collected her second 40-assist performance against CSS, while also adding eight kills and seven digs. Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) posted 22 digs, with Jordan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) and Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) adding 16 and 10 digs, respectively.

The match proved to be a see-saw affair through the first three sets, with neither team leading by more than three points.

In the fourth set, however, the Cardinals flexed their muscles. After surrendering the first five points of the set, SMU went on an 18-4 run to take an 18-9 advantage. CSS cut the gap to four, 19-15, but SMU ended the set on a 6-4 run to win the set — and the match.

The Cardinals (2-2 overall) are back in action next weekend, taking part in the North Park (Ill.) Invitational in Chicago, Ill.