ST. PAUL, Minn. — Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball coach Mike Lester had a feeling that Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown with Hamline was going to be a fight to the finish.
 
Oh how right he was.
 
Fortunately for the veteran head coach, after three straight nail-biting sets—all three decided by two points—his Cardinals took control, cruising to a match-clinching 25-17 win in Set 4 to lift Saint Mary's to the 3-1 victory.
 
The Cardinals outlasted the host Pipers 27-25 in the opening set, and then traded 25-23 victories to take a 2-1 advantage into the fourth set. Determined to come away from Hutton Arena with their second consecutive conference victory, Saint Mary's raced out to a 16-8 lead and never looked back in cruising to the lopsided 25-17 Set 4 win.
 
Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) matched her season-high with a team-best 18 kills against the Pipers, while Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) and Cassidy Bittle (Winona, Minn.) also had big offensive nights, finishing with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.), Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa), and Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) dished out 21, 20 and 11 assists, with Krogstad—the reigning MIAC and AVCA Athlete of the Week—adding a team-high 16 digs.
 
Julia Zolnosky led a trio of Pipers with 10 or more kills, finishing with a match-high 24, and Amelia Jensen dished out 47 assists in the losing effort.
 
Saint Mary's, which improved to 2-0 in conference play and 13-2 overall with its sixth straight victory, returns to action on Saturday, returning to St. Paul, Minn., for a 3 p.m. MIAC showdown with St. Thomas at UST's Schoenecker Arena.