WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team kicks off the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule on Wednesday, hosting St. Catherine in a 7 p.m. showdown at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0 MIAC | 7-2 Overall) vs. St. Catherine Wildcats (0-0 MIAC | 5-2 Overall)
 
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• Live Stats * Live Video | Video Preview | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals went 3-1 at the Loras Invitational last weekend, opening with wins over UW-Platteville (3-1), Loras (3-2), and Wheaton (Ill.) (3-1), before falling to UW-Stout (3-1) | Day 1 Recap * Day 2 Recap
• St. Catherine: The Wildcats are coming off a 3-1 showing at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational in Oshkosh, Wis., last weekend. St. Catherine opened with 3-0 and 3-1 wins over Maranatha Baptist and Marian during Day 1, before dropping a 3-0 decision to UW-Oshkosh and beating Wisconsin Lutheran 3-1  | Day 1 Recap * Day 2 Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Catherine—Their Last Meeting:
• October 22, 2014 * Winona, Minn.: After Saint Mary's breezed through the first set, 25-15, the Cardinals and Wildcats settled in for a real knock-down, drag-out free-for-all. The Cardinals survived three set points and recorded the final two points of the second set to outlast St. Catherine 29-27 in grabbing a 2-0 advantage. And the third set proved to be as tight as the second, as Saint Mary's again scored the set's final two points, breaking a 24-24 deadlock and lifting the Cardinals to a sweep-clinching 26-24 victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals hit the road this weekend, traveling to Ripon, Wis., to compete in the two-day Ripon Red-Hawk Invitational. Saint Mary's will face St. Norbert and UW-River Falls on Friday, before squaring off against St. Catherine and Ripon on Saturday.
• St. Catherine: Like the Cardinals, the Wildcats are headed to the Ripon Red-Hawk Invitational in Ripon, Wis., this weekend, where SCU will face Ripon and St. Norbert on Friday, and Saint Mary's and UW-River Falls on Saturday.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
• With their 3-1 showing at last weekend's Loras Invitational, the Cardinals have now gone 6-2 in their two tournaments this season. … Saint Mary's 3-0 loss to seventh-ranked UW-Stevens Point on Sept. 6 snapped the Cardinals' three-match season-opening winning streak, while the Cardinals' 3-1 setback vs. UW-Stout on Sept 12 snapped their second three-match winning streak of the season. … Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Jenna Sullivan (Woodbury, Minn.) were named to the Loras Invitational All-Tournament Team. It was the second all-tournament selection for Fadness, who was also named to the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic All-Tournament Team. … Fadness finished with a team-leading 56 kills and hit .360 in the Cardinals' four Loras Invitational matches. … Fadness has now recorded 108 kills in eight tournament matches and leads the team with 121 kills through nine matches this season. … Sullivan chipped in 36 kills and 64 digs en route to her all-tournament selection. … Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.)—who posted 18- and 16-kill efforts in Saint Mary's first two matches at the Loras Invitational, finished with 48 kills. … The 18 kills by Peterson vs. UW-Platteville on Sept. 11 and by Fadness against UW-Stout on Sept. 12, were season highs. … Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) and Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) teamed to account for 176 of the team's 200 assists at Loras—Hanson dished out 96 helpers, while MacVey chipped in 80. … Hanson also had a team-best 10 service aces last weekend. … Hanson and MacVey have both recorded 20 or more assists in four of the team's first nine matches. … Hanson owns a season-high 28-assist effort vs. Loras on Sept. 11. … Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) recorded a season-best 26 digs vs. UW-Stout on Sept. 12. … Krogstad, who has collected 119 digs through nine matches, is second all-time with 1,660 career digs. … Saint Mary's 3-2 win over Loras was its first five-set match of the season. … The Cardinals are 2-1 in three-set matches and 4-1 in matches extended to four sets. … Saint Mary's has won the opening set in five of its seven victories this season—the exceptions, a 3-1 win over UW-La Crosse on Sept. 5 and a 3-1 victory over Wheaton (Ill.) on Sept. 12. … 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 St. Catherine Wildcats:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
• Wednesday's conference-opener against Saint Mary's is the eighth straight road match for the Wildcats. St. Catherine will play 12 consecutive road matches before finally playing its first home match on Sept. 23 against St. Thomas. … After opening the season with a 3-0 loss to UM-Morris, the Wildcats rattled off four straight wins, before falling to UW-Oshkosh 3-0 last Saturday. … Both of St. Catherine's losses have been 3-0 sweeps, while the Wildcats own a pair of 3-0 and 3-1 wins. SCU's other victory was a five-setter vs. Simpson on Sept. 5. … Alyssa Besch owns a team-leading 62 kills through seven matches, while Zoe Barr is second with 50, and Payton Baker, Amber Zelher, and Megan Lindenfeiser are close behind at 46, 44, and 44, respectively. … Hayley Levenhagen has recorded a team-high 156 assists, with Maria Davis chipping in 84. … Levenhagen is also the team-leader in service aces with eight, one more than Davis, while Shanee Herd has amassed a team-best 143 digs.