ST. PAUL, Minn. — Last Wednesday's 3-2 nonconference loss to UW-La Crosse left a bad taste in the mouths of the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team.
 
And the Cardinals took out their frustrations on Hamline Friday evening.
 
Saint Mary's dominated the Pipers in the first, third and fourth sets in cruising to a key 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at HU's Hutton Arena.
 
Saint Mary's opened the night with a commanding 25-19 victory in the opening set, but stumbled a bit in the second set—falling 25-22—before regaining their Set 1 dominance with 25-16 and 25-18 wins in the third and fourth sets to seal the victory.
 
The win not only snapped a season-high four-match losing streak, but also pushed the Cardinals to 6-2 in league play and tied for second with Augsburg, Gustavus, and Saint Benedict—just one game back of league-leading St. Thomas with three conference matches remaining.
 
Brittney Flom (Kenyon, Minn.) led a balanced Saint Mary's offensive attack, recording 11 kills and hitting .500, while Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) and Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn.) each chipped in 10 kills. Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) and Lillian Braun (Kasson, Minn.) each dished out 22 assists, while Clare Tack (St. Charles, Ill.) notched a team-best 22 digs and Braun completed her ninth double-double of the season by adding 10 digs to her 22 assists.
 
Cass Bittle posted a match-high 13 kills and Morgen Coleman and Megan Rubbelke tallied 18 and 17 assists, respectively, in the losing effort for Hamline (0-8 MIAC, 3-23 overall).
 
The Cardinals (15-10 overall) are right back in action—again in St. Paul, Minn.—on Saturday heading to St Thomas' Schoenecker Arena for a 3 p.m. showdown with the 18^th-ranked Tommies.