WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team is back on its home court on Saturday, playing host to St. Thomas in a battle of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference unbeatens. Match time is slated for 3 p.m. at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-0 MIAC, 14-1 Overall) vs. St. Thomas Tommies (2-0 MIAC, 10-4 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | Video Preview | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—September 21, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals kept their conference record perfect and extended their winning streak to 10 straight, getting 11 kills from Lexi Barth (Byron, Minn.) and 16 digs from Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) in a 3-0 MIAC win over Hamline at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• St. Thomas—September 21, 2016 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Tommies won their sixth straight—including their second in as many MIAC matches—cruising to a 3-0 win over St. Catherine 3-0 at Schoenecker Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas—A Year Ago:
• September 26, 2015 * St. Paul, Minn.: Fueled by a double-double of 15 kills and 16 digs from Jenna Sullivan (Woodbury, Minn.), the Cardinals dropped St. Thomas 3-1 to not only push their winning streak to a season-high seven in a row, but also put an end to the Tommies' 14-match winning streak against Saint Mary's—a streak that dated back to a 3-1 Cardinal victory on Oct. 16, 2002, also at Schoenecker Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals hit the road next weekend, traveling to St. Joseph, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference showdown against Saint Benedict on Friday, before heading to Moorhead, Minn., for a 3 p.m. MIAC matchup with Concordia the following day.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies head across town on Wednesday, traveling to Hamline's Hutton Arena for a 7 p.m. conference match against the Pipers.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Saint Mary's match against St. Thomas is the second of back-to-back home matches for the Cardinals, who will play their next 10 matches on the road, before closing out the regular season with four straight home matches—starting Oct. 21 vs. Bethel. … The Cardinals head into Saturday's MIAC match against St. Thomas riding a season-high 10-match winning streak. … The Cardinals' 10-match run is the second-longest winning streak in program history. … At 14-1, Saint Mary's is off to its best start since 1990, when the Cardinals—behind a school-record 13-match winning streak—opened 15-1. … Nine of the Cardinals' 14 wins—including Wednesday's triumph over Hamline—have been 3-0 sweeps. Saint Mary's also owns three four-set wins and one five-set victory. … Lexi Barth (Bryon, Minn.) finished with a team- and match-high 11 kills against Hamline Wednesday. Barth's 11 kills were three shy of her collegiate best 14-kill effort against Ripon on Sept. 17. … The Cardinals had 10 different players record at least one kill in their 3-0 win over Hamline Wednesday. … Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) and Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) finished with 21 and 16 assists, respectively, vs. the Pipers, while Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) recorded a team-best 16 digs. … Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) has led the team in kills in 12 of their 15 matches this season, and heads into Saturday's match against St. Thomas with a team-best 197 kills (4.19 kps). … Blattner's 197 kills and 4.19 kps are both tops in the conference. … Barth is second on the team in kills with 106 through 15 matches, with Sara Lind third with 86. … 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. … Hanson and Braun have shared the setting duties this season, and head into Saturday's showdown with St. Thomas with 256 and 228 assists, respectively. … Hanson also leads the team in aces with 21, one more than Braun and three in front of Maddie Hess (Lewiston, Minn.). … Braun and Hess each own a five-ace match this season—it's the most aces in a match since Hanson recorded six aces against Loras on Sept. 11, 2015. … Hanson equaled her season-high with 29 assists against St. Catherine on Sept. 14, and has recorded 20 or more assists nine times this season—including each of her last five matches.. … Hess posted a season- and career-high 30 assists in the Cardinals' 3-0 win over Alverno on Sept. 16. … The Cardinals boast four players with 100 or more digs this season, led by Thomas with 262—including the team's top five single-match 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. … Hanson leads the team with six double-doubles, while Blattner—who owned 10 double-doubles as a member of the Cardinal women's basketball team last season—has five. Braun is third on the team with three double-doubles, and Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn.) has one. … Blattner and Thomas have been named to the all-tournament team in all three of the Cardinals' regular-season tournaments this season. … Saint Mary's has not lost a regular-season tournament match all year—going 4-0 at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic, St. Catherine Invitational and Ripon Red Hawk 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. … The Cardinals did not lose a set in their four, season-opening Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic matches, sweeping Finlandia, St. Norbert, Carroll, and Luther. 
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Saturday's match at Saint Mary's is the first of three straight road contests for the Tommies, who do not return home until next Saturday, when they host Gustavus. … The Tommies' 3-0 victory over St. Catherine Wednesday pushed their winning streak to a season-high six straight. … After opening the season with back-to-back losses to Birmingham-Southern and Emory, UST has gone 10-2 in its last 12 matches. … Three of UST's four losses have come to nationally ranked teams—No. 8 Emory, No. 19 UW-La Crosse, and No. 25 Northwestern. … The Tommies hit a season-high .310 as a team against St. Catherine, and got a team-high seven kills from both Audrey Erickson and Taylor Lewis. … Ellie Meyer led UST with 23 digs in Wednesday's win, while Abby Louwagie had a team-best 17 assists. … St. Thomas boasts three players—Lewis (163), Whitney Lloyd (142), and Brooke Reichart (124)—with 100 or more kills through 14 matches. … Lloyd is averaging 2.68 kps and is hitting a team-high .304. … Katharine Mallak and Louwagie have shared the setting duties this season, combining for 470 of the team's 630 assists—297 from Mallak and 273 from Louwagie. … Mallak is also the team-leader in aces with 14, one more than Meyer and four in front of Madie Kroehler and Louwagie. … UST heads into Saturday's match at Saint Mary's boasting three players who have recorded 100 or more digs, led by Meyer with 259. … Wednesday's win over St. Catherine was just the third 3-0 win of the season for the Tommies, who have notched five 3-1 wins and two 3-2 victories. On the flip side, St. Thomas has not been shut out all season—three of the Tommies' four losses have been by 3-1 counts, with the other a 3-2 loss to Birmingham-Southern. … With Wednesday's win, the Tommies already have more wins this season (10) than they had all of last year, when they finished 9-17 overall.