LA CROSSE, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team is back on the road Wednesday, as the Cardinals travel to UW-La Crosse for a 7 p.m. nonconference match against the Eagles.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-3 Overall) at UW-La Crosse Eagles (5-3 Overall)
 
Last Action:
The Cardinals went 2-2 at the Colorado College Classic in Colorado Springs, Colo., last weekend, beating East Texas Baptist (3-2) and Tufts (3-0), before falling to seventh-ranked Colorado College (3-1) and No. 17 Clarkson (3-1).
UW-La Crosse is coming off a 2-2 showing at last weekend's Augsburg Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. The Eagles beat Gustavus (3-2) and Bethany Lutheran (3-0), while falling to St. Thomas (3-0) and Augsburg (3-0).
 
SMU vs. UW-La Crosse — Their Last Meeting:
September 11, 2013: For the first two sets of their nonconference match against UW-La Crosse, the Cardinals made it look easy — steamrolling the Eagles 25-17, 25-17. From there, however, "easy" was not in the Cardinals' vocabulary. But "win" was, as SMU rebounded from a 25-21 Set 3 setback and outlasted UW-L 27-25 in the fourth set to seal the 3-1 victory at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
The Cardinals are off until next Wednesday, when they kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 7 p.m. match against ninth-ranked St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. … UW-La Crosse is back in action this Friday and Saturday, traveling to Kenosha, Wis., to take part in the Carthage Invitational.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
Last Saturday's matches against No. 7 Colorado College and No. 17 Clarkson are two of three nationally ranked teams the Cardinals will face in a two-week span. Saint Mary's squares off against ninth-ranked St. Thomas to kick off the MIAC season on Sept. 17. … With their 2-2 showing at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic last weekend, the Cardinals improved to 21-6 in regular-season tournaments over the past two seasons. … Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) earned all-tournament honors for the second straight weekend at the Colorado College Classic last weekend, compiling 66 digs, four service aces and 17 assists in the Cardinals' four tournament matches. … Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) also earned all-tournament honors last weekend, finishing with a 31 kills and a team-best 17 blocks. … Cassidy Bittle (Winona, Minn.) collected a team-high 33 kills in the Cardinals' four matches last weekend, while Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn.) chipped in 30. … Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) dished out a team-leading 83 assists last weekend. … Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) — who earned all-tournament honors at the Cardinals' season-opening Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic — enters Wednesday's match against UW-La Crosse with a team-leading 62 kills, six more than Nordick. … Nordick leads the team with a .393 attack percentage, while also boasting a team-high 23 blocks. … MacVey and Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) have shared the setting duties this season, with MacVey recording 150 assists and Hanson adding 118. … MacVey also leads the team with 11 service aces. … With her 66 digs last weekend, Krogstad pushed her team-leading dig total to 120 through eight matches. … Four of Saint Mary's five wins this season have been 3-0 sweeps, while the other was a five-set, 3-2 victory over East Texas Baptist. … The Cardinals, who made their first MIAC playoff appearance since 2010 a year ago — closed out the season with 24 wins, the second-most in program history. … SMU's 24 wins were the most since the Cardinals won 27 en route to their first-ever MIAC regular-season title and a berth in the NCAA Division III national tournament in 2000. … The Cardinals have won 20 or more matches seven times under coach Lester.
 
Scouting The UW-La Crosse Eagles:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
Both of the Eagles' losses at the Augsburg Invitational last weekend came at the hands of nationally ranked opponents — St. Thomas is currently No. 9 in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll, while Augsburg is sitting at No. 22. … UW-L's 3-0 loss to St. Thomas snapped the Eagles' season-high three-match winning streak. … Leah Putzier enters Wednesday's match against Saint Mary's boasting a team-leading 75 kills, with Jill Entinger second on the team with 63 kills, while hitting a team-best .294. … Jaclyn Barrette has accounted for 220 of the team's 313 assists. … As a team, UW-L has collected 80 service aces, led by Barrette with 19 and Putzier with 17. … Putzier is also the Eagles' dig leader with 81, followed by Danica Johnson (75) and Barrette (60). … The Eagles have not played a match that has ended in four sets — four of UW-L's five wins have been 3-0 sweeps, while their fifth was a five-set victory over Gustavus. And on the flip side, UW-L has lost to three-setters and one that has gone the maximum five sets.