WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team kicks off post-season play on Tuesday, as the Cardinals entertain Saint Benedict in a first-round match of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoffs. First serve at the Saint Mary's Gym is set for 7 p.m.
 
Tonight's Matchup:
• #4 Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-3 MIAC, 24-4 Overall) vs. #5 Bethel Royals (6-5 MIAC, 17-10 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | MIAC Playoffs Homepage
 
MIAC Playoff Schedule:
Quarterfinals | Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016 | 7 p.m.
• No. 6 Concordia at No. 3 St. Thomas | St. Paul, Minn.
• No. 5 Bethel at No. 4 Saint Mary's | Winona, Minn. 
Semifinals | Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016 | 7 p.m.
• No. 4/5 Winner at No. 1 Augsburg | Minneapolis, Minn.
• No. 3/6 Winner at No. 2 Gustavus | St. Peter, Minn.
Championship | Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016 | 7 p.m.
• Semifinal winners at highest remaining seed | Location: TBA
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—October 29, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: In a match that had the intensity of a conference playoff showdown, the Cardinals—behind the offensive prowess of Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) and Lexi Barth (Byron, Minn.), and stellar defensive play by Brittney Flom (Kenyon, Minn.), Gloria Kitange (Rochester, Minn.), and Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn.)—outlasted conference runner-up Gustavus 3-2 at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 • Bethel—October 29, 2016 * Whitewater, Wis.: The Royals closed out their regular-season schedule with a pair of nonconference matches at the UW-Whitewater Tournament, beating Millikn 3-1 and falling to host UW-Whitewater 3-1 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Bethel—Earlier This Year:
• October 21, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: With four Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches remaining in the regular season, Saint Mary's began its playoff push against Bethel. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Royals decided to push back—hard. After dropping the opening set, Bethel rattled off three straight set wins in handing the Cardinals a 3-1 setback at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The winner of tonight's MIAC Playoff quarterfinal will head to Augsburg's Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn., on Thursday for a 7 p.m. semifinal match against the regular-season conference champion and top-seeded Auggies.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• The Cardinals closed out the MIAC regular-season schedule with an 8-3 record, earning the conference's No. 4 seed in the post-season tournament for the second straight year. … The Cardinals are making their fourth straight MIAC Playoff appearance—and the 11^th under coach Mike Lester. … With their 3-2 win over Gustavus last Saturday, the Cardinals improved to 24-4 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' 24 wins are the most since going 24-9 in 2013. … The Cardinals enter post-season play riding a three-match winning streak. … Tuesday's playoff opener against Bethel is the Cardinals' fifth straight home match. Saint Mary's owns an 8-3 record on its home floor this season. … Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) recorded a match-high 21 kills against Gustavus last Saturday. It was the sophomore's second straight match of 20 or more kills—and marked the seventh time this season Blattner has eclipsed 20 kills in a match. … Blattner owns three matches of 28 or more kills this year. … Blattner, who has led the Cardinals in kills in 24 of their 28 matches, 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 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. … Blattner heads into Tuesday's MIAC quarterfinal against Bethel owning a team- and conference-leading 430 kills, while also hitting .235. … Blattner's 430 kills this season rank No. 6 all-time, six kills back of Diane Wood's 436 kills in 1998. … Lexi Barth (Bryon, Minn.) is second to Blattner in kills with 198—including a career-high 18 kills against Gustavus last Friday—while Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn. / 175) and Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn. / 127) have also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau. … Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) and Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) dished out 29 and 20 assists, respectively, against Gustavus last Saturday and head into Tuesday's match against Bethel with 523 and 465 helpers on the season. … Hanson has now recorded 15 matches of 20 or more assists—including 29 helpers in each of the Cardinals' last two matches. … Hanson recorded a season-high 31 assists in the Cardinals' 3-0 win over Penn State-Behrend on Oct 8. … Along with her 465 assists, Braun owns a team-leading 47, six 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. … 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 boasted a season-high four players record double-doubles against Gustavus last Saturday. Blattner added 17 digs to her match-high 21 kills; Hanson and Braun finished with 16 and 14 digs to go along with their 29 and 20 assists; and Thomas tallied 18 digs and 10 assists. … Blattner now leads the Cardinals with 13 double-doubles, one more than Hanson. … Thomas' 10 assists were a career high. … The Cardinals boast five players with 100 or more digs this season, led by Thomas with 506—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' 506 digs are a single-season career high and rank eighth all-time. … 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.). … 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 two five-set victories. … Seventeen of the Cardinals' 24 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 Bethel Royals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• By virtue of their 6-5 MIAC record, the Royals finished fifth in the final conference standings and earned the No. 5 seed—and a trip to Saint Mary's for their playoff opener. … Bethel is making its third consecutive MIAC Playoff appearance and the fifth in the last six years. The Royals reached the title match in the post-season tourney a year ago, falling to Gustavus in five sets. … 
 The Royals, who opened the season with seven consecutive wins, have gone 10-10 in their last 20 matches. … After opening conference play 0-3, the Royals won six of their next eight MIAC contests—the lone exceptions, 3-0 setbacks to regular-season champion Augsburg and third-seeded St. Thomas. … Tuesday's playoff opener at Saint Mary's is the fourth straight road match for the Royals, who are 9-7 away from Robertson Center this season—including 6-0 in neutral-site matches. … Bethel boasts five players with 100 or more kills this season, led by Tina Hoppe  with 314. Callie Sinclair (264) and Carlee Hoppe (216) have eclipsed the 200-kill barrier, while Karin Canakes (151) and Brooke Olstad (130) have surpassed 100 kills each. … Carlee Hoppe has posted 12 double-doubles this season, including seven in her last eight matches. The 2015 honorable-mention AVCA All-American is averaging 2.84 kills and 3.36 digs per set. … Holly Ellwanger and Katie Lubben have shared the setting duties for the Royals this season, with Ellwanger dishing out a team-high 563 assists, while Lubben is close behind with 521. … Ellwanger also owns a team-high 42 aces, 20 more than Sinclair. … Bethel has five players who have recorded at least 200 digs this season—Dominique Dabu (295), Carlee Hoppe (255), Sinclair (254), Tina Hoppe (241), and Ellwanger (216). … Bethel leads the league in block assists and total blocks when facing conference opponents this season. The Royals, who have been without their starting middle hitter throughout the entire MIAC schedule, still managed to finish with 148 block assists and 88 total blocks in league action. … The Royals have played five matches that have been extended to the a fifth set—BU beat Aurora and Millikin, while losing 3-2 to Gustavus, Saint Benedict, and Carleton. The Royals also own seven 3-0 wins and eight four-set victories.