ST. PAUL, Minn. — After playing their last four matches at St. Catherine's Butler Center last weekend, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team make a return trip to the Wildcats' home court for the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener Wednesday evening. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0 MIAC, 8-1 Overall) at St. Catherine Wildcats (0-0 MIAC, 6-2 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats | Video Preview
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—September 9-10, 2016 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals posted a perfect 4-0 record at the St. Catherine Invitational last weekend, opening with a 3-0 win over Luther and a 3-1 victory vs. Central-Iowa, before following that up with a 3-0 win vs. Crown and a 3-2 triumph against Nebraska Wesleyan | Day 1 Recap * Day 2 Recap
• St. Catherine—Sept. 9-10, 2016 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Wildcats were a perfect 4-0 at their home invitational, beating Marian (3-1), Nebraska Wesleyan (3-2), Central-Iowa (3-1), and Crown (3-0)| Day 1 Recap * Day 2 Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Catherine—A Year Ago:
• September 16, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) enjoyed two monster weekends to kick off the season for the Cardinals—earning All-Tournament honors at both the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic and the Loras Invitational. And when the Cardinals kicked off the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference portion of its schedule, Fadness was once again 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 | Recap
• September 19, 2015 * Ripon, Wis.: The Cardinals, behind Lex Krogstad's (Chicago, Ill.) 30 digs, and nine kills each from Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) and Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.), survived a first-set scare with a 27-25 win, then completed their second 3-0 sweep of St. Catherine in a four-day span with back-to-back 25-17 victories | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals head to Ripon, Wis., this weekend, squaring off against Alverno, the University of Dubuque, Lawrence, and Ripon as part of the two-day, Ripon Red Hawk Invitational.
• St. Catherine: The Wildcats are also headed to Ripon, Wis., this weekend, facing Ripon, Alverno, Lawrence, and the University of Dubuque at the two-day Ripon Red Hawk Invitational.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• The Cardinals return to St. Catherine riding their second four-match winning streak of the season. Saint Mary's opened the year with four straight wins at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic, and are currently coming off four consecutive wins at the St. Catherine Invitational last weekend. … The Cardinals' 3-2 loss to UW-Eau Claire last Wednesday is the only blemish on their record through nine matches. … Saint Mary's 8-1 record is their best nine-match start since the Cardinals went 8-1 to open the 2009 season. … Saint Mary's 4-0 run through the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic was the Cardinals' best start to a season since 2008, when they opened 7-0. … The Cardinals did not lose a set in their four Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic matches last weekend, sweeping Finlandia, St. Norbert, Carroll, and Luther. … Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) collected a team-high 64 kills (4.92 kps) in the Cardinals four matches at the St. Catherine Invitational last weekend—including a career-high 29-kill effort against Central-Iowa. … Blattner's 29 kills vs. the Dutch were the most by a Cardinal since Molli Dant recorded 29 in a four-set match against Wartburg on Oct. 31, 2002. … Blattner picked up her third and fourth double-doubles of the season last weekend, recording 29 kills and 12 digs against Central-Iowa, and a 22-kill, 12-dig effort against Nebraska Wesleyan. Blattner collected 10 double-doubles during her freshman season as a member of the Cardinal women's basketball team a year ago. … Blattner has now led the team in kills in eight of their nine matches this season, and heads into the Cardinals' MIAC-opener against St. Catherine with a team-best 126 kills (4.34 kps). … Lexi Barth (Byron, Minn.) and Bailey Joens (Osage, Iowa) chipped in 23 and 21 kills, respectively, at the St. Catherine Invitational. … Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) and Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) dished out 78 and 62 assists, respectively, and enter conference play separated by one assist—Braun owns 140 helpers, one more than Hanson. … Braun and Hanson are also the team's leaders in aces with 15 and 13, respectively. … Five of Braun's team-high 15 aces came against Carroll on Sept. 4—it was the most aces in a single match since Hanson recorded six aces against Loras on Sept. 11, 2015. … The Cardinals boast three players with 50 or more digs this season, led by Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) with 133. … Blattner and Thomas have been named to the all-tournament team at both the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic and St. Catherine Invitational … The Cardinal, who played their first five matches at home, are in the midst of a nine-match road trip—not returning home until Sept. 21, when they host Hamline in the teams' conference opener.
 
Scouting The St. Catherine Wildcats:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Wednesday's match against Saint Mary's is the fifth straight home match for the Wildcats. Following Wednesday's showdown with the Cardinals, St. Catherine will play its next nine matches on the road—not returning to Butler Center until Sept. 28, when it hosts Carleton. … With their perfect 4-0 run through their home invitational last weekend, the Wildcats ran their winning streak to five straight. … Payton Baker enters Wednesday's match vs. Saint Mary's owning a team-leading 73 kills. She is one of four SCU players with 30 or more kills through eight matches—Abby Palmer (56), Libby Kreuser (39), and Mackenzie Peper (38) are the others. … Larissa Kisch and Johna Radke have shared the setting duties this season, with Kisch dishing out a team-high 130 assists, while Radke has chipped in 112 helpers. … SCU has served up 55 aces this season, led by Shanee Herd (15) and Palmer (11). … Along with her team-leading 15 aces, Herd is also owns a team-high 174 digs. … Both of the Wildcats' losses this season have been by 3-0 counts, while SCU has won just won of its six matches in 3-0 fashion. …