ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, as the Cardinals close out their regular-season schedule with a 3 p.m. showdown against Gustavus at Lund Center.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-4 MIAC * 15-12 Overall) at Gustavus Gusties (7-3 MIAC * 22-5 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Their Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—October 25, 2017 * Northfield, Minn.: The Cardinals could not get their offense on track, falling to St Olaf in three straight, 3-0, at Skoglund Center | Recap
• Gustavus—October 25, 2017 * St. Peter, Minn.: The Gusties collected a 3-2 victory over third-place Augsburg at Gus Young Court | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus—A Year Ago:
• 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
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: Saturday's conference matchup against Gustavus is the regular-season final for the Cardinals.
• Gustavus: Saturday's conference matchup against Saint Mary's is the regular-season finale for the Gusties.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• The Cardinals head into Saturday's regular-season finale against Gustavus needing one win—or a Bethel loss­—to secure their fifth straight MIAC Playoff appearance. Saint Mary's is currently tied with the Royals for sixth place in the MIAC standings. Should the two teams remain tied following Saturday's action, Saint Mary's would earn the berth thanks to its 3-2 win over Bethel earlier this season. … Nine of Saint Mary's 15 wins have come during three, season-high three-match winning streaks. … Saturday's showdown against 16^th-ranked Gustavus marks the fourth time in their last eight matches that the Cardinals have faced a team ranked in the Top 25 of the latest AVCA Poll. Saint Mary's dropped 3-0 decisions to No. 7 Northwestern and No. 20 St. Thomas, while falling to No. 9 UW-Whitewater 3-1. … Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.)—an AVCA Second-Team All-American a year ago—heads into Wednesday's match against St. Olaf with a team-leading 302 kills, followed by Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn. / 195), Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn. / 152), Linnaea Wallis (Dresser, Wis. / 144), and Gloria Kitange (Rochester, Minn. / 121). … 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. … Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Minn.) and Lillian Braun (Kasson, Minn.) have shared the setting duties all season, with Hanson boasting a team-leading 560 helpers, with Braun close behind with 463. … Hanson posted a season-high 38-assist effort against Lawrence on Sept. 16. … Braun's 31 assists vs. Carleton on Oct. 6 were a career high. … Hanson has posted 20 or more assists in 15 of the Cardinals' 26 matches—including three matches of 30 or more helpers. Braun owns 10 matches of 20 or more assists this season. … Braun leads the team with 38 aces,, five more than Hanson. … Clare Tack boasts a team- and career-best 422 digs, while Hanson (245), Blattner (245), Braun (217), Carley Cronen (Kandiyohi, Minn. / 157), and Wallis (127) have also eclipsed the 100-dig plateau. … 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. … Cronen 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 led the way with 12 kills and 13 digs, while Braun and Hanson added 31-assist/15-dig and 13-assist/17-dig efforts, and Tack chipped in her first collegiate double-double with 10 assists and a team-high 25 digs. … Blattner leads the team with 10 double-doubles, one more than Braun and two in front of Hanson. … The Cardinals have played nine, five-set matches this season—beating Carthage, Central-Iowa, No. 8 Washington (Mo.) University, Bethel, St. Catherine, and Carleton, while falling to UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, and Lawrence. Saint Mary's played just one five-setter a year ago. … The Cardinals' 3-0 loss to St. Olaf on Wednesday marked just the third time this season Saint Mary's has been swept. … The Cardinals' 3-2 loss to UW-La Crosse on Oct. 18 was the final nonconference match, the final regular-season home match, and the final regular-season home match in the collegiate careers of graduating seniors Hanson, Lind, Tack, and Tara Nagy (Oak Lawn, Ill.). … Saint Mary's 3-2 setback against UW-La Crosse on Oct. 18 was just the third loss on their home court for the Cardinals, who enter the final week of the regular-season 7-3 at the Saint Mary's Gym and 7-8 on the road—including 5-3 in neutral-court matches. … 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. … Saint Mary's 3-0 victory over UW-Stout on Sept. 1 was the first collegiate coaching win for Cardinal head coach Jackie Kiecker.
 
Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Gustavus enters Saturday's regular-season finale ranked No. 16 in the latest AVCA Poll. … Wednesday's 3-2 marathon win over Augsburg snapped the Gusties' two-match losing streak. … The Gusties have lost back-to-back matches twice this season to account for two of their five losses. On the flip side, GAC has put together winning streaks of eight (twice) and five. … Saturday's match against Saint Mary's is the second straight home contest for the Gusties—who are 6-1 on their home court. GAC is 16-4 away from Gus Young Court, including 8-1 in neutral-site matches. … Gustavus boasts six players with 100 or more kills—including three who have eclipsed the 200-kill plateau. … Kate Holtan owns a team-best 303 kills, while Hanna Albers is second with 270 and Lauren Hanson is third with 239. Nora Holtan (139(, Sam Haugen (109) and Shaefer Rupar (101) have also posted 100 or more kills this season. … Nora Holtan leads the team with 932 assists, while also boasting a team-high 33 aces. … Holtan is one of five Gusties with 20 or more aces through 27 matches—Abby Leitch (33), Alberg s(26), Kate Holtan (21), and Brittany Luethmers (20) are the others. … Leitch is the team's digs leader with 333, with Luethmers (309) and Albers (307) close behind. … Seventeen of the Gusties' 22 wins have been 3-0 sweeps. GAC also owns four, four-set wins, while its 3-2 victory over Augsburg on Wednesday is the Gusties' only win that has been stretched to a fifth set. On the flip side, three of Gustavus' five losses have been five-setters.