WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team closes out the regular-season portion of its schedule on Saturday, as the Cardinals host Gustavus in a 3 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-3 MIAC, 23-4 Overall) vs. Gustavus Gusties (9-1 MIAC, 21-6 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program | Senior Salute
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—October 26, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals got 28 kills from Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) en route to an MIAC Playoff-clinching 3-1 win over Carleton at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• Gustavus—October 26,2016 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Gusties locked up the No. 2 seed and first-round bye in the MIAC Playoffs, cruising to a 3-0 victory over Hamline at Hutton Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus—A Year Ago:
• October 31, 2015 * St. Peter, Minn.: Saint Mary's entered its 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 to seal the 3-0 win over the Cardinals | Recap
• November 5, 2015 * St. Peter, Minn.: Gustavus—which completed a perfect run through the conference's regular-season schedule to secure the No. 1 seed in the MIAC Playoffs—scored 12 of the match's first 13 points and never took its foot off the gas in handing the Cardinals a 3-0 setback in the MIAC Playoff semifinal at Gus Young Court | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: Saturday's match is the regular-season final for the Cardinals, who have locked up the No. 4 seed in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs and will host an opening-round match at the Saint Mary's Gym at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
• Gustavus: Saturday's match is the regular-season finale for the Gusties, who have locked up the No. 2 seed—and a first-round bye—in next week's MIAC Playoffs. GAC will host one of the two semifinal matches next Thursday in St. Peter, Minn.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• With their win over Carleton on Wednesday, Saint Mary's clinched its fourth straight MIAC Playoff berth—and the 11^th under coach Mike Lester. … Wednesday's 3-1 victory vs. Carleton improved Saint Mary's to 23-4 overall—marking the fourth straight season, and 10^th time during Lester's tenure, that Saint Mary's has won 20 or more matches. … The Cardinals' 23 wins are the most since going 24-9 in 2013. … Saturday's regular-season finale against Gustavus is the fourth straight home match for the Cardinals, who own a 7-3 record at home this season. … 
Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) recorded a match-high 28 kills in the Cardinals' 3-1 win over Carleton on Wednesday. It was the third time this season the sophomore has posted 28 or more kills in a match. … Blattner set a single-match school record in the rally scoring era with 31 kills against Bethel on Oct. 21. The 31 kills were two better than her previous career-high 29, recorded against Central-Iowa on Sept. 9. … Blattner's 31 and 29 kills are the most by a Cardinal since Molli Dant recorded 29 in a four-set match against Wartburg on Oct. 31, 2002. … With her 28 kills vs. Carleton, Blattner has now led the team in kills in 23 of their 27 matches this season. … Blattner owns six matches of 20 or more kills this season, and also leads the Cardinals with 12 double-doubles. … Blattner heads into Saturday's match against Gustavus owning a team- and conference-leading 409 kills, while also hitting .238. … Lexi Barth (Bryon, Minn.) is second to Blattner in kills with 181, while Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn. / 175) and Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn. / 120) have also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau. … Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) and Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) dished out 29 and 22 assists, respectively, against Carleton on Wednesday and head into Saturday's Gustavus match with 494 and 445 helpers on the season. … Hanson has now recorded 15 matches of 20 or more assists. … Hanson recorded a season-high 31 assists in the Cardinals' 3-0 win over Penn State-Behrend on Oct 8. … Hanson was held to six digs against Carleton Wednesday, snapping a streak of four straight double-doubles. The junior is second to Blattner with 11 double-doubles this season. … Along with her 445 assists, Braun owns a team-leading 46, seven more than Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.). 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 on Oct. 8. … Thomas' seven aces are the most in a match since Megan Roesler and Lisa Engdahl served up seven aces during the 2005 season. … The Cardinals boasted a season-high three players record double-doubles against Augsburg on Oct. 12. Blattner notched 18 kills and 11 digs, while Hanson and Braun added 21 assists and 14 digs, and 19 assists and 16 digs, respectively. … Saint Mary's had a season-high five players record at least 10 digs vs. the Auggies on Oct. 12. Along with Blattner, Hanson, and Braun, the Cardinals also got 20 digs from Thomas and 15 from Clare Tack (St. Charles, Ill.). … 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 five players with 100 or more digs this season, led by Thomas with 488—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' 488 digs are 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. … Fifteen of the Cardinals 23 wins this season have been 3-0 sweeps. Saint Mary's also owns six, four-set wins and one five-set victory. … Seventeen of the Cardinals' 23 wins, meanwhile, have come via two lengthy winning streaks—one of 10 matches and the other of seven. … Saint Mary's season-opening 10-match winning streak was the second-longest in program history. … 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. … Blattner and Thomas were named to the all-tournament team in each of the Cardinals' four regular-season tournaments. … 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.
 
Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• With Wednesday's 3-0 win over Hamline, the Gusties pushed their winning streak to four straight—including back-to-back 3-0 wins. … The Gusties, who have not lost back-to-back matches all season, own winning streaks of two (twice), four (twice), and eight. … Lauren Hanson enters Saturday's showdown at Saint Mary's boasting a team-leading 345 kills. … Hanson is one of six Gusties who have eclipsed the 100-kill plateau this season—Hanna Albers (270) Taylor Trautman (250), Shaefer Ruper (161), Nora Holtan (158), and Sam Haugen (148) are the other five. … Holtan dished out 30 assists in GAC's 3-0 win over Hamline Wednesday, giving the sophomore her first collegiate 1,000-assist season. … Holtan, who owns 1,061 assists this year, is just the sixth Gustie in program history to reach 2,000 career assists, sitting at 2,005. … Gustavus has five players with 20 or more aces through 22 matches, led by Abby Leitch (39) and Albers (35). … Brittany Luethmers owns a team-leading 520 digs, while Albers (347), Leitch (285), and Holtan (249) have also recorded more than 200 digs this season. … Three of Gustavus' six losses have gone to a fifth set. Only once this season have the Gusties failed to win at least one set—falling to Northwestern 3-0 on Oct. 15. … Gustavus is 8-1 in three-set matches, 6-2 in four-setters, and 7-3 in matches extended to a fifth set. … The Gusties lost just once in nine home regular-season matches this season, while going 13-5 on the road—including 7-2 in neutral-site contests.