ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team closes out its regular-season schedule with its fifth straight road match on Saturday, as the Cardinals head to Gustavus for a 3 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown with the Gusties.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-2 MIAC | 19-8 Overall) at Gustavus Gusties (10-0 MIAC | 24-2 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals made quick work of Carleton on Wednesday, sandwiching a pair of 25-20 wins around a 25-17 Set 2 victory in beating the Knights 3-0 in Northfield, Minn. | Recap
• Gustavus: The Gusties locked up the MIAC regular-season title—and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference playoffs—with a 3-1 win over Hamline Wednesday in St. Peter, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus—A Year Ago:
• November 1, 2014 * Winona, Minn.: Home has been sweet for Saint Mary's this season. And thanks to their regular season-ending 3-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Gustavus, home is exactly where the Cardinals will be when they open conference tournament play | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: Saturday's match against Gustavus is the regular-season finale for the Cardinals. Saint Mary's will begin MIAC Playoff action either Tuesday or Thursday, depending on Saturday's outcomes.
• Gustavus: Saturday's match against Saint Mary's is the regular-season finale for the Gusties. GAC has already clinched the conference's regular-season title—and the No. 1 seed in the MIAC Playoffs. Gustavus will open post-season play on Thursday in St. Peter, Minn.
 
Saint Mary's Playoff Picture:
• With their 3-0 win over Carleton, the Cardinals remained deadlocked with Bethel in the fight for the No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference playoffs with 8-2 MIAC records. The Cardinals need to beat Gustavus and have Augsburg knock off Bethel in order to secure the No. 2 seed—and the all-important first-round bye. A loss to the Gusties, or a win by Bethel, and the Royals would finish second. If Bethel secures the No. 2 seed, Saint Mary's would finish no lower than fourth and would host a first-round MIAC Playoff match on Tuesday.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
• Saturday's match at Gustavus is the fourth straight road contest for the Cardinals. … With their 3-2 victory over Macalester last Saturday, the Cardinals locked up their third straight MIAC Playoff berth. …The Cardinals' 3-2 win over Macalester last Saturday was their fourth five-set match of the season—Saint Mary's is now 3-1 in five-setters this season. The Cardinals are 8-4 in three-set matches and 8-3 in four-setters. … Last Saturday's win over Macalester marked the fifth time this season the Cardinals have won after dropping the opening set. … Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) led the Cardinals with 15 kills against Carleton Wednesday—it was the fourth straight match the senior has led the team in kills, and her second consecutive 15-kill effort. … Fadness, who leads the team with a career-best 318 kills, has recorded 10 or more kills in 21 of the team's 27 matches. … Fadness, who has notched a season- and career-high 18 kills three times this season, is one of six Cardinals who have eclipsed the 100-kill plateau this season—Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn. / 220), Cassidy Bittle (Winona, Minn. / 201), Jenna Sullivan (Woodbury, Minn. / 188), Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn. / 172), and Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn. / 120) are the others. … Lind banged out a career-high 15 kills to pace the Cardinals against Saint Benedict on Oct. 2. … Urban's 14-kill effort vs. the Saint Benedict on Oct. 2 was a career high. … Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) dished out a team-high 22 assists vs. Carleton on Wednesday, while Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) chipped in 18. … MacVey's 22-assist effort against Carleton marked the 13th time this season the senior has recorded 20 or more assists in a match. … Hanson has reached the 20-assist plateau 14 times this season. … Hanson notched her first double-double of the season with 29 assists and 10 digs against St. Olaf on Oct. 7. …  Maddie Hess (Lewiston, Minn.) posted 17 assists and a career-best 12 digs en route to her first collegiate double-double against St. Thomas on Sept. 26. … MacVey notched season-highs of 29 assists and 17 digs vs. Saint Benedict on Oct. 2 for her team-leading fifth double-double of the season—one more than Sullivan. … Hanson, who tallied a season-high 31 assists vs. Saint Benedict on Oct. 2, heads into Saturday's showdown with Gustavus owning a team-best 478 assists, with MacVey close behind at 441. … Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) posted a season-high 19 digs against Augsburg on Oct. 14. Thomas' 19 digs were one shy of her career-best 20-dig effort against UW-La Crosse on Sept. 10, 2014. … Sullivan has collected 10 or more digs in 18 of the team's 25 matches—including a team-high 11 digs vs. Carleton Wednesday. … Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) notched her first double-double of the season vs. Hamline on Sept. 23, recording 16 digs and 11 assists. … Krogstad, who equaled her career-high with 36 digs against St. Norbert on Sept. 18, has posted 469 digs through 27 matches and is second all-time with 2,051 career digs. Krogstad is just the second player ever to reach the 2,000-dig plateau and just 120 digs shy of school record-holder Theresa Perrini. … With her 19-dig effort against Bethel and 21-dig showing vs. Macalester last weekend, Krogstad has recorded 10 or more digs in 22 of the Cardinals' 27 matches—including 18 of the last 19. … The Cardinals snapped a season-high four-match losing streak with their victory over Augsburg on Oct. 14. … The four-match slide was their longest since dropping four in a row early in the 2014 season. … The Cardinals' 3-2 loss to Saint Benedict on Oct. 2 snapped their season-high seven-match winning streak. … With their 3-1 win over St. Thomas on Sept. 26, Saint Mary's snapped a 14-match losing streak against the Tommies, dating back to a 3-1 triumph on Oct. 2, 2002—also on the Tommies' home court. … With their 3-1 victory over Augsburg on Oct. 14, the Cardinals finished the regular season 7-2 on their home court this season. … The Cardinals finished a combined 10-6 in their four tournament matches this season. … The Cardinals put together their best 19-match start to the season in program history this season, going 16-3. … With their 3-1 win over UW-Eau Claire on Sept. 1, the Cardinals are now 5-0 in their last five season openers.
 
Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
• With Wednesday's win over Hamline, the Gusties claimed their first regular-season MIAC volleyball title since 1986, and the program's fifth championship overall. … After opening the season with back-to-back 3-1 losses to Cornell and UW-Platteville, the Gusties have rattled off a program-record 24 consecutive wins. … The Gusties have posted 12, 3-0 sweeps during its current 24-match winning streak—and have only been pushed to a fifth set four times. … The Gusties have won the first set in 25 of their 26 matches—the lone exception, their 3-1 setback to UW-Platteville on Sept. 4. … Gustavus heads into Saturday's showdown with Saint Mary's a perfect 11-0 on their home court. The Gusties have not lost on their home court since falling to Saint Benedict 3-1 on Oct. 25, 2014. … Alyssa Taylor heads a group of five Gusties who have notched 100 or more kills this season. Taylor owns a team-best 268 kills, followed by Lauren Hanson (230), Taylor Trautman (218), Becca Woodstra (176), and Kelle Nett (109). … Taylor is also the team-leader in attack percentage (.352) and blocks (99). … …Nora Holtan has dished out 809 of the team's 1,110 assists and is just one kill shy of joining the 100-Kill Club. … Gustavus has served up 164 aces this season, led by Noltan (26), Trautman (23), Abby Leitch (23), and Brittnay Luethmers (23). … Leitch and Luethmers are the team's dig leaders with 439 and 432, respectively. … Coming off an 11-15 season a year ago, the Gusties 24-2 showing is the greatest turnaround in the 47-year history of Gustavus volleyball. … Gustavus—ranked No. 3 in the latest North Region poll—is seeking its first undefeated conference season since going 11-0 in 1985.