WINONA, Minn. — Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) has had two monster weekends to kick off the season for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team—earning All-Tournament honors at both the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic and the Loras Invitational.
 
And Wednesday evening, the Cardinals kicked off the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference portion of its schedule—and once again Fadness was making her presence felt.
 
The senior right-side hitter collected a match-high 10 kills and hit .300 in leading the Cardinals to a 3-0 victory over St. Catherine at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
"That was a good way to kick our conference schedule started," said Saint Mary's coach Mike Lester. "Everyone played very well—it was good to see our middles get going, and I thought top-to-bottom, everyone played a strong match."
 
The Cardinals never let the Wildcats get comfortable in cruising to the 3-0 sweep, racing out to big leads in all three sets en route to the 25-13, 25-15, 25-19 victory.
 
Fadness wasn't the only Cardinals making life miserable for the visiting Wildcats, as Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) delivered nine kills and Jenna Sullivan (Woodbury, Minn.) added seven kills and 15 digs. Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) and Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) dished out 21 and 17 assists, respectively. Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) and Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) each chipped in 10 digs and Krogstad and Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn.) both recorded a pair of ace serves.
 
Megan Lindenfelser accounted for five of St. Catherine's 17 kills, with Maria Davis chipping in eight assist and Shanee Herd adding nine digs.
 
The Cardinals (1-0 MIAC, 8-2 overall) are right back in action this weekend, traveling to Ripon, Wis., to take part in the 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.