MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team is back in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as the Cardinals head to Augsburg's Si Melby Hall for a 7 p.m. match against the Auggies.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-1 MIAC, 21-2 Overall) at Augsburg Auggies (6-0 MIAC, 12-6 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | Video Preview
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—October 7-8, 2016 * Aston, Pa.: The Cardinals cruised to four straight wins at the Neumann Invitational, beating Keystone (3-0), Penn State-Behrend (3-0), Neumann (3-0), and Rowan (3-1) | Day 1 Recap * Day 2 Recap
• Augsburg—October 8, 2016 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Auggies picked up their sixth straight conference win, cruising to a 3-1 victory over St. Thomas at the Tommies' Schoenecker Arena| Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg—A Year Ago:
• October 14, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: Coming off an 0-4 showing at the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament in Naperville, Ill., the Cardinals took out their frustrations—while maintaining their spot near the top of the conference standings—with an impressive 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Augsburg at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are now off until Oct. 21-22, when they host Bethel and Macalester at the Saint Mary's Gym. The Saint Mary's-Bethel match will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, with  the Cardinals-Scots showdown set for 3 p.m. the following day.
• Augsburg: The Auggies are back on their home court at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn., on Saturday, hosting Bethel in a 3 p.m. conference match.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• With last weekend's 4-0 showing at the Neumann Invitational, the Cardinals improved to 21-2 overall—the best 23-match start in program history. … Saint Mary's, which has won seven straight, has now recorded 20 or more wins in four straight seasons—and 10 times under head coach Mike Lester. … The Cardinals were a perfect 16-0 in regular-season tournament play this season—going 4-0 at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic, St. Catherine Invitational, Ripon Red Hawk Invitational, and the Neumann Invitational. … Saint Mary's 4-0 run through the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic marked the first time the Cardinals had opened with four straight wins since 2008, when they opened 7-0. … Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) and Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) were named to the Neumann Invitational All-Tournament team last weekend. It was the fourth time in four regular-season tournaments that the Cardinal pair of been named to the all-tournament team. … The Cardinals' 3-0 loss to St. Thomas on Sept. 24 snapped their season-high 10-match winning streak. The Cardinals' 10-match run was the second-longest winning streak in program history. … With their wins over Keystone, Penn State-Behrend, and Neumann, the Cardinals have now recorded 14 3-0 sweeps this season. Saint Mary's also owns five, four-set wins and one five-set victory. … Blattner recorded a team-high 60 kills in the Cardinals' four tournament wins last weekend. … Blattner had 20 kills against Penn State-Behrend last Friday. It was the fourth time this season the sophomore has recorded 20 or more kills in a match. … Blattner recorded a career-high 29 kills vs. Central-Iowa on Sept. 9—it was the most by a Cardinal since Molli Dant recorded 29 in a four-set match against Wartburg on Oct. 31, 2002. … Blattner led the team in kills in 19 of their 23 matches this season, and heads into Wednesday's showdown against Augsburg with a team-best 316 kills (4.33 kps). … Blattner's 316 kills and 4.33 kps are both tops in the conference. … Blattner owns a team-high 10 double-doubles—including three in Saint Mary's four Neumann Invitational matches last weekend. … Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) and Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) recorded 74 and 70 assists, respectively, in Saint Mary's four tournament matches last weekend. … Hanson, who is second on the team with eight double-doubles, heads into the Cardinals' match at Augsburg with a team-best 394 assists, while Braun is close behind with 363. … Hanson, who has dished out 20 or more assists 11 times this season, recorded a season-high 31 assists in the Cardinals' 3-0 win over Penn State-Behrend last Friday. … Lexi Barth (Bryon, Minn.) is second to Blattner in kills with 152, while Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn. / 143) and Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn. / 102) have also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau. … Braun is the team-leader in aces with 36, four more than Thomas. The duo are two of four Cardinals with 20 or more aces this season. … The Cardinals boast four players—Braun, Thomas, Blattner, and Maddie Hess (Lewiston, Minn.)—who have posted five or more aces in a match this season. Thomas recorded a season- and career-high seven aces in Saint Mary's 3-1 win over Rowan last Saturday. … Thomas' seven aces are the most in a match since Megan Roesler and Lisa Engdahl served up seven aces during the 2005 season. … Hess posted a season- and career-high 30 assists in the Cardinals' 3-0 win over Alverno on Sept. 16, while notching a career-high four blocks in the Cardinals' Sept. 24 loss to St. Thomas. … The Cardinals boast four players with 100 or more digs this season, led by Thomas with 414—including the team's top five single-match dig performances. Thomas posted a season-high 32 digs against Dubuque on Sept. 16, recorded 31 against Central-Iowa on Sept. 9, tallied 28 against both St. Catherine on Sept. 14 and Lawrence on Sept. 17, and notched 26 vs. Nebraska-Wesleyan on Sept. 10. … Thomas' 414 digs through 23 matches are already a single-season career high. … The Cardinals had 10 different players record at least one kill in their 3-0 win over Hamline on Sept. 21.
 
Scouting The Augsburg Auggies:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Wednesday's match against Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back home matches for the Auggies, who are 5-3 on their home court this season. … With their 3-1 win over St. Thomas on Saturday, the Auggies pushed their winning streak to five straight. … After going 4-4 through their first eight matches, Augsburg has gone 8-2 over its last 10. … The Auggies' last three wins—vs. Gustavus, Macalester and St. Thomas—have all been 3-1 decisions. … Jaelyn Arndt and Taylor Linn head into Wednesday's showdown with Saint Mary's sharing the team lead in kills with 178. DeeDee Maier has also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau, sitting third on the team with 118. … Arndt posted a team- and season-high 18 kills in the Auggies' 3-1 win over St. Thomas last Saturday. It was the third straight match in which Arndt led the team in kills. … Courtney Lemke, who collected a season-high 53 assists against St. Thomas last Saturday, is the team-leader with 372 helpers, while Morgan Malley has chipped in 282. … Lemke's 53 assists vs. UST last Saturday were 12 more than her previous best, a 41-assist effort against Macalester on Oct. 5. … Along with her team-best 178 kills, Linn is also the team-leader in aces with 17, one more than Malley and Terhell. … Augsburg boasts six players with 100 or more digs, led by Terhell with 381 and Maier with 181. … Augsburg had five players record 10 or more digs against St. Thomas last Saturday. … Seven of Augsburg's 12 wins have come in three sets. The Auggies are 7-2 in three-set matches, 4-3 in four-setters, and 1-1 in matches stretched to a fifth set. …