ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team is back on the road this weekend, traveling to Northwestern-St. Paul to take part in the Northwestern Quadrangular.
 
Saint Mary's Northwestern Quadrangular Schedule:
Friday, October 13, 2017 * 7 p.m. | Live Video * Live Stats
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (14-6 Overall) vs. #7 Northwestern Eagles (24-3 Overall)
Saturday, October 14, 2017 * 10 a.m. | Live Stats
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (14-6 Overall) vs. UW-River Falls Falcons (15-10 Overall)
Saturday, October 14, 2017 * Noon | Live Stats
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (14-6 Overall) vs. #9 UW-Whitewater Warhawks (15-3 Overall)
 
Saint Mary's Last Action:
• October 11, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals had three players record 10 or more kills—led by Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn.) with 12—in rolling to a 3-1 MIAC win over Macalester at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Northwestern Quadrangular Opponents—Their Last Meeting:
• vs. Northwestern—October 6, 2010 * St. Paul, Minn.: The evening got off to a roaring start for Saint Mary's, as the Cardinals cruised to their seventh straight win with a 3-0 nonconference win over Crown in the first of two matches at the Northwestern Triangular. The Cardinals' drive to win No. 8 in a row, however, ran into a roadblock in the form of host Northwestern, as the Eagles snapped Saint Mary's season-high win streak with a 3-0 victory | Recap
• vs. UW-River Falls—September 18, 2015 * Ripon, Wis.: Saint Mary's cruised to a pair of wins during the first day of the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational, rolling to a 3-1 win over St. Norbert, before dispatching of UW-River Falls 3-0 | Recap
• vs. UW-Whitewater: October 11, 2014 * Naperville, Ill.: Saint Mary's got its final tournament of the regular season off to a roaring start, as the Cardinals outlasted Aurora 3-2 in the opening match of the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament. It was another five-set match in the second match of the evening — unfortunately for the Cardinals, this time around, they came out on the short end, as UW-Whitewater dealt SMU the 3-2 setback | Recap
 
Saint Mary's Up Next:
• The Cardinals close out the home portion of its 2017 regular-season schedule on Wednesday, entertaining UW-La Crosse in a 7 p.m. nonconference match at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Wednesday's match against Macalester was the four straight home matches for the Cardinals, who are 7-2 at home, while going 7-3 away from the Saint Mary's Gym—including 5-1 in neutral-court matches. … With their 3-1 win over Macalester on Wednesday, the Cardinals head into this weekend's matches riding a three-match winning streak, while having won eight of their last 11. … Saint Mary's current three-match winning streak is its third of the season. On the flip side, the Cardinals have yet to drop back-to-back matches. … Two of the Cardinals' three opponents this weekend are ranked in the top 10 in the latest AVCA Top 25—Northwestern is currently ranked No. 7, while UW-Whitewater is sitting at No. 9. … Four of Saint Mary's final eight opponents are nationally ranked. Along with No. 7 Northwestern and No. 9 UW-Whitewater, the Cardinals still have No. 11 Gustavus and No. 19 St. Thomas on their schedule—not to mention UW-La Crosse, which received votes in the latest poll. … Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn.) finished with a team- and match-high 12 kills against Macalester Wednesday, while Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) and Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn.) each chipped in 10. … Blattner—an AVCA Second-Team All-American a year ago—heads into this weekend's matches with a team-leading 232 kills, followed by Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn. / 149), Gloria Kitange (Rochester, Minn. / 121), Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn. / 118), and Linnaea Wallis (Dresser, Wis. / 107) … Kitange and Kedl both posted career highs in kills in the Cardinals' 3-2 win over Central-Iowa on Sept. 2. Kitange led the way with a team-high 16 kills, one more than Kedl. … Hanson and Braun have shared the setting duties all season, with Hanson boasting a team-leading 448 helpers, with Braun close behind with 361. … Hanson posted a season-high 38-assist effort against Lawrence on Sept. 16. … Hanson leads the team with 29 aces,, two more than Braun. … Clare Tack (St. Charles, Ill.) boasts a team- and career-best 321 digs, while Hanson (190), Blattner (189), Braun (167), and Carley Cronen (Kandiyohi, Minn. / 142) have also eclipsed the 100-dig plateau. … Cronen—who recorded a team-leading 20 digs against Macalester Wednesday—notched a career-best 22 digs in Saint Mary's 3-1 win over Wisconsin Lutheran on Sept. 8. … The Cardinals boasted a season-high four players with double-doubles against Carleton on Oct. 6. Blattner recorded her team-leading ninth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 13 digs, while Braun and Hanson added 31-assist/15-dig and 13-assist/17-dig efforts for their seventh double-doubles of the year. Tack chipped in her first collegiate double-double with 10 assists and a team-high 25 digs. … Braun's 31 assists vs. the Knights on Oct. 6 were a career high. … Hanson has posted 20 or more assists in 13 of the Cardinals' 20 matches—including three matches of 30 or more helpers. … With her 22 assists vs. Macalester Wednesday, Braun has delivered 20 or more assists seven times this season. … Tack posted a career-high 38 digs against St. Catherine on Sept. 23 en route to earning MIAC Setter/Libero of the Week honors. … Tack's 38 digs vs. the Wildcats were the most in a match since Theresa Perrini recorded 41 against Augsburg on Oct. 24, 2008. … The Cardinals have played eight, five-set matches this season—beating Carthage, Central-Iowa, No. 8 Washington (Mo.) University, Bethel, St. Catherine, and Carleton, while falling to UW-Oshkosh and Lawrence. Saint Mary's played just one five-setter a year ago. … The Cardinals' 3-0 loss to Saint Benedict on Sept. 29 marked just the second time this season Saint Mary's has been swept. … The Cardinals picked up their first win in program history against Washington (Mo.) University at the UW-Oshkosh Tournament on Sept. 8, handing the eighth-ranked Bears a 3-2 setback. … With its 3-2 win over Bethel on Sept. 12, Saint Mary's snapped a three-match losing streak vs. the Royals—dating back to a 3-1 win in the opening round of the 2014 MIAC Playoffs. … With their 3-1 showing at the Ripon Red Hawk Classic on Sept. 15-16, the Cardinals have now gone 3-1 in each of their three regular-season tournaments this season. … With their 3-1 performance at the season-opening Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic, the Cardinals are now 7-1 in their last two Classic appearances—and 13-3 in their last four. … The Cardinals, who closed out the MIAC regular-season with an 8-3 record a year ago—earning the conference's No. 4 seed in the post-season tournament for the second straight year. … The Cardinals made their fourth straight MIAC Playoff appearance last season, falling to Bethel 3-1 in the opening round.
 
Scouting The Northwestern Eagles:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• The Eagles continued their winning ways on Wednesday, outlasting UM-Morris 3-2 for their 19^th straight win. … Northwestern has not lost since falling to Augsburg 3-0 on Sept. 9. … All three of NWU's losses came at the Augsburg Tournament on Sept. 8-9—the Eagles fell to St. Thomas 3-0, UW-Eau Claire (3-1), and Augsburg (3-0). … Fifteen of NWU's 19 wins during its current 19-match run have been 3-0 sweeps. Two four-set wins and a pair of five-set victories account for the other four victories. …  Saint Mary's will be the seventh of eight teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference the Eagles will face this season. Northwestern is currently 5-2 vs. the MIAC this year. … With their 3-2 win over UM-Morris on Wednesday, the Eagles—13-0 in conference play this season—collected their 50^th-straight UMAC victory. … Lindsey Peterson became the Eagles' all-time career digs leader in NWU's win over UM-Morris Wednesday. Peterson, who had a team-best 25 digs vs. the Cougars, heads into this weekend's matches with 2,036 digs in her collegiate career. … Peterson enters Friday's match against as the team's leader in kills with 396. She is one of five Eagles with more than 100 kills—Mariah Halvorsen (269), Kayla Tanner (148), and Leesa Malone (133), Kaylee Fuglestad (109). … Malone and Kaelyn Kilbo have shared the setting duties for the Eagles, with Malone amassing a team-leading 550 assists, while Kilbo has dished out 407. … NWU owns 154 services aces through 27 matches, led by Freya Hanson (31), Peterson (26), and Kilbo (25). … Jackie Doering and Peterson have both eclipsed the 300-dig plateau—Doering owns a team-high 369 digs, with Peterson close behind with 306. … Northwestern is a perfect 12-0 on its home court, while going 12-3 away from Ericksen Center.
 
Scouting The UW-River Falls Falcons:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• The Falcons enter the weekend having dropped back-to-back matches, and five of their last six. … Both Falcon losses during their current two-game slide have been 3-1 decisions—falling to UW-Stout on Monday and UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday. … Saturday's matchup against Saint Mary's will be the 12^th match against a team from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Falcons are 8-3 in their first 11 matches vs. the MIAC. … This weekend's matches against UW-Oshkosh, Saint Mary's, and Northwestern are the fifth, sixth and seventh of nine straight road matches for the Falcons, who are 12-6 on the road this season. … Amara Meyer heads into the weekend owning a team-high 250 kills. She is one of five Falcons with 100 or more kills through 25 matches—Karli Nielsen (188), Dakotah Poitra (171), Hannah Striggow (143), and Samantha Garvin (121) are the others. … Nielsen is the team leader in attack percentage at .256, with Meyer close behind at .252. … Hailey Huseth and Mallory Griffin have led the way for the Falcons in assists, recording 463 and 393 helpers, respectively. … UW-River Falls has recorded 163 service aces, and boast five players—Hannah Robb (32), Huseth (29), Poitra (26), and Griffin (23)—with 20 or more aces. … Robb owns a team-high 479 digs, with Poitra (280), Griffin (188), Striggow (175), and Huseth (134) also eclipsing the 100-dig plateau. … Seven of UW-River Falls' 15 wins have been 3-1 decisions. The Falcons are unbeaten in their four matches that have gone the maximum five sets, while going 4-5 in three-set matches and 7-5 in four-setters.
 
Scouting The UW-Whitewater Warhawks:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• The Warhawks enter the weekend ranked No. 9 in the latest AVCA Top 25 Poll. … With their 3-0 win over UW-Stout on Tuesday, UW-Whitewater pushed its winning streak to eight straight. … UW-Whitewater, which dropped back-to-back matches to Luther (3-0) and Trinity (3-0), have lost just once since Sept. 15—a 3-1 setback to Southwestern (Texas). … Fourteen of UW-Whitewater's 15 wins have come during two lengthy winning streaks—a season-opening six-game run, and the Warhawks' current eight-gamer. … UW-Whitewater heads into action this weekend boasting four players who have recorded 100 or more kills this season. Sydney Racky leads the UW-W charge with 187 kills, eight more than Courtney Wagner. Amanda Spera (150) and Rachel Butterfield (123) have also eclipsed the 100-kill barrier. … Racky and Wagner also lead the team in attack percentage at .290 and .287, respectively. … Elizabeth Niestrom has accounted for 687 of the team's 758 assists through 18 matches. … UW-Whitewater has amassed 120 service aces, led by Brittany Robinson with 20, and Niestrom and Racky with 19 each. … Robinson also leads the Warhawks in digs with 354, followed by Racky (141), Niestrom (118), and Elizabeth Tworek (118). … Nine of UW-Whitewater's 15 wins have been 3-0 sweeps. The Warhawks also own four, four-set wins, while going a perfect 2-0 in matches stretched to a fifth set. … Twelve of UW-Whitewater's 18 matches this season have been played on the road. The Warhawks boast a near-perfect 5-1 mark on their home court, while going 10-2 away from Williams Center—including a 3-1 showing in neutral-site matches. …