RIPON, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team steps out of conference play this weekend, taking part in the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational. The Cardinals face MSOE and UW-Superior on Friday, before squaring off against UW-River Falls and host Ripon on Saturday.
 
The Ripon Red Hawk Invitational Schedule:
Friday, September 19, 2014
3:00: Ripon vs. UW-River Falls (Court 1) | Milwaukee School of Engineering vs. Saint Mary's (Court 2)
5:00: UW-Superior vs. U. of Dubuque (Court 1) | UW-River Falls vs. Milwaukee School of Engineering (Court 2)
7:00: Ripon vs. U. of Dubuque (Court 1) | Saint Mary's vs. UW-Superior (Court 2)
Saturday, September 20, 2014
10:00: Ripon vs. UW-Superior (Court 1) | U. of Dubuque vs. UW-River Falls (Court 2)
Noon: UW-Superior vs. Milwaukee School of Engineering (Court 1) | UW-River Falls vs. Saint Mary's (Court 2)
2:00: Ripon vs. Saint Mary's (Court 1) | Milwaukee School of Engineering vs. U. of Dubuque (Court 2)
 
Saint Mary's Last Action:
• The Cardinals dropped back-to-back 25-19 decisions in the first two sets against defending champion and nationally ranked St. Thomas Wednesday and never recovered in falling to the Tommies 3-1 in the teams' conference opener at Schoenecker Hall in St. Paul, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's at Ripon Red Hawk Invitational — Their Last Appearance:
• September 20-21, 2013: The Cardinals were a perfect 4-0 at last season's Ripon Red Hawk Invitational in Ripon, Wis.—dropping just one set in their four matches. Saint Mary's swept Lakeland, Concordia (Wis.) and St. Norbert, while beating host Ripon 3-1.
 
Saint Mary's vs. Ripon Red Hawk Invitational Opponents — Their Last Meeting:
• vs. MSOE—September 4, 2009: Showing no ill effects from a season-opening loss to Viterbo, the Cardinals made quick work of Milwaukee School of Engineering, rolling past the Raiders in four sets (25-19, 25-11, 21-25, 25-10) during the opening day of the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic | Recap
• vs. UW-Superior—September 7, 2012: The opening day of the Bethany Lutheran Tournament did not go quite the way Saint Mary's coach Mike Lester had hoped, as the Cardinals opened the two-day tournament with a 3-0 loss to UW-Superior, falling 25-18, 26-24 and 25-12 | Recap
• vs. UW-River Falls—October 12, 2012: Saint Mary's got 12 kills from Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) and 10 kills from Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn.), as the Cardinals kicked off their final regular-season tournament in impressive fashion, opening the UW-Stout Invitational with a 3-1 victory over UW-River Falls | Recap
• vs. Ripon—September 21, 2013: The Cardinals completed their 4-0 Ripon Red Hawk tournament run with a 3-1 triumph over host Ripon to push their winning streak to a school record-tying 11 straight matches | Recap
 
Saint Mary's Up Next:
• The Cardinals finally return home next week for a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches, hosting Bethel at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, before entertaining Macalester in a 3 p.m. match on Saturday.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
Wednesday's match against No. 20 St. Thomas was the third of six matches against nationally ranked opponents for the Cardinals, who have already faced No. 7 Colorado College and No. 17 Clarkson, and still have No. 14 Saint Benedict and No. 24 Augsburg on their schedule. … This weekend's matches at the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational mark the final four matches in a 10-match road swing for the Cardinals. … Cassidy Bittle (Winona, Minn.) recorded a career-high 18 kills in the Cardinals' conference-opening loss to St. Thomas Wednesday. It was the fourth straight match the freshman has recorded 10 or more kills. … Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) chipped in 13 kills vs. the Tommies. … Fadness leads the team with 75 kills, three more than Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) and four in front of Bittle. … Peterson tallied a season- and career-high 23 kills against UW-La Crosse on Sept. 10. … Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) and Brittney Hansen (Janesville, Iowa) each dished out 23 assists vs. UST. MacVey owns a team-best 193 assists, with Hansen chipping in 159. … Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.), who has been named to the all-tournament team in both of the Cardinals' tournaments this season, finished with 19 digs vs. St. Thomas and leads the team with 165 digs. … Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) recorded a career-high 20 digs against UW-La Crosse on Sept. 10. … Four of Saint Mary's five wins this season have been 3-0 sweeps. … The Cardinals are still looking for their first four-set win this season (0-3). … With their 2-2 showing at the Colorado College Classic on Sept. 5-6, the Cardinals improved to 21-6 in regular-season tournaments over the past two seasons. .
 
Scouting The MSOE Raiders:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
The Raiders head to Ripon, Wis., boasting a 5-4 overall record, including a 3-1 win over Wisconsin Lutheran on Tuesday. … After opening the season with three straight wins—followed by three consecutive losses—MSOE has sandwiched two wins around a 3-1 loss to Carroll in its last three matches. … Sarabeth Haworth has compiled a team-best 128 kills in MSOE's first nine matches, while also hitting a team-laeding .234. … Abby Born is the team's assist leader with 348. … Kasey Mylin and Maria Bintz have served up a combined 27 aces—Mylin leads the team with 14, one more than Bintz. … Haworth leads the Raiders with 195 digs, while Aleah Quast has also eclipsed the 100-dig mark with 145. … The Raiders are 2-1 on their home court and 2-1 in neutral-site courts. MSOE has one just once in three road matches this season.
 
Scouting The UW-Superior Yellowjackets:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
The Yellowjackets head into this weekend's tournament play with a 6-8 overall record. … UW-Superior dropped all four of its matches at the UW-Oshkosh Pizza Hut Classic last weekend, falling to Lawrence (3-2), Saint Benedict (3-0), Martin Luther (3-0) and St. Catherine (3-2). … Stephanie Bandelin enters tournament play with a team-leading 177 kills, while hitting a team-best .255. … Vicki Vinokus is just eight kills shy of reaching the 100-kill plateau. … Keely Deadrick has accounted for 458 of the team's 502 assists this season. … The Yellowjackets have amassed 72 service aces, led by Deadrick (18), Mackenzie Dahlin (16) and Chelsey Walerius (12). … Walerius also leads the team with 223 digs. … Four of UW-Superior's six wins have been 3-0 sweeps. … The Yellowjackets are winless in five-set matches (0-3). … The Yellowjackets have played just two of their first 14 matches on their home court—falling to Bethel (3-1) and beating St. Scholastica (3-0) on Sept. 9.
 
Scouting The UW-River Falls Falcons:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
The Falcons head into tournament play with a 3-5 overall record, including back-to-back wins over Crown and St. Catherine in their last two matches. … Four of UW-River Falls' first eight matches have been against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes. The Falcons have lost to Hamline (twice) and Carleton, while beating St. Catherine. … The Falcons boast a balanced offensive attack, with four players—Lisa Keppers (67), Brianna Muetzel (65), Tayler Fertig (59) and Rebecca Gasper (52)—also boasting 50 or more kills. … Gasper is also hitting a team-best .264. … Raven Kline has dished out a team-leading 311 of the team's 335 assists this season and also leads the team with 11 service aces. … Lexi Pingel and Muetzel have eclipsed the 100-dig plateau through eight matches, collecting 168 and 109 digs, respectively. … UW-River Falls owns two 3-0 sweeps among its three wins. On the flip side, three of the Falcons' five losses have come in four sets.
 
Scouting The Ripon Red Hawks:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
Ripon enters its home tournament owning a 9-4 overall record. … The Red Hawks went 2-2 at last weekend's UW-Oshkosh Pizza Hut Classic, including back-to-back losses to Dominican and UW-Oshkosh in Saturday's final day of the two-day tournament. … The Red Hawks boast three players—Katie Berrell (135), Allison Barnes (117) and Emily Gary (110)—with 100 or more kills through 13 matches. … Gary and Berrell also lead the team in attack percentage at .266 and .236, respectively. … Abbi Williamson owns a team-leading 429 assists. … Wylie Gahart boasts a team-high 12 service aces, one more than Barnes and two better than Gary and Williamson. … Brianne Milroy is the team's dig leader at 198, with Barnes (106) also owning more than 100 digs for the Red Hawks. … Ripon is 4-1 in four-set matches this season. … The Red Hawks' 3-2 win over St. Norbert on Sept. 6 is the only match this season in which Ripon has been stretched to the maximum five sets. … Ripon boasts a 3-1 record on its home court this season, while also going 6-1 in neutral-site matches.