ST. PETER, Minn. — Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball coach Mike Lester did not have to look too hard to find a silver lining in Saturday's 3-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss to regular-season champion Gustavus.
 
After all, despite the loss, the Cardinals will be making their third straight appearance in the MIAC Players—and they will be doing so with an opening-round match on their home court.
 
The Cardinals, who claimed the No. 4 seed after closing the season 8-3 in conference play, will entertain Concordia in a 7 p.m. MIAC quarterfinal match on Tuesday, while Saint Benedict will host Carleton in the other opening-round match.
 
Saint Mary's entered Saturday's match against Gustavus looking to do something no conference team had been able to do this season—beat the Gusties.
 
In fact, not only did Gustavus boast an unblemished 10-0 conference slate, but after dropping the first two matches of the season, the Gusties had rattled off 24 consecutive wins.
 
Make that 25.
 
Gustavus raced out to a 25-17 win in the opening set and never looked back, completing the sweep with a 25-21 win in the second set and a 25-23 victory in the third.
 
Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, collecting a match-high 11 kills, while Cassidy Bittle (Winona, Minn.) and Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) chipped in six and five, respectively. Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) dished out a team-high 16 assists, one more than Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa), while Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) recorded a team-best 18 digs.
 
Lauren Hanson finished with nine kills, with Taylor Trautman, Alyssa Taylor, and Becca Woodstra all chipping in eight, for the Gusties (11-0 MIAC, 25-2 overall). Nora Holtan accounted for 31 of the team's 41 assists, and Brittany Luethmers tallied 16 digs.