WINONA, Minn. — You'll have to forgive Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball coach Jackie Kiecker if she's showing a few signs of premature aging.
 
Playing eight, five-set matches will do that to a first-year head coach.
 
Fortunately for Kiecker, the Cardinals once again found a way to come up big in the fifth and final set Friday evening, as the Cardinals rallied from a 5-1 deficit to beat Carleton 15-9 and earn the 3-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.
 
 After a pair of sets in which a four-point lead was a rarity—Saint Mary's won the opening set 26-24, while Carleton took Set 2 25-22—both teams posted lopsided victories to force a race to 15 fifth set. The Cardinals breezed to a 25-16 win in the third set, but could not put away the Knights, who responded with a 25-22 win in the fourth set.
 
Carleton got out to a quick 5-1 lead in the fifth set, only to have Saint Mary's rattle off eight straight points for a 9-5 lead—and the Cardinals never looked back in rolling to their sixth five-set victory in eight tries.
 
Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, recording 12 kills and 13 digs, while Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn.) chipped in 11 kills.
 
Lillian Braun (Kasson, Minn.), Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa), and Clare Tack (St. Charles, Ill.) all joined Blattner in the double-double club. Braun delivered a season-high 31 assists and added 15 digs, while Hanson finished with 13 assists and 17 digs, and Tack posted a team-high 25 digs and added 10 assists.
 
As a team, Saint Mary's served up 18 aces, led by Hanson with six and Braun with five.
 
Lucy Stevens and Faith Skinner led four Knights in double figures in kills with 16 each, and Lauren Pak dished out 47 assists in the losing effort for Carleton (2-4 MIAC, 5-10 overall).
 
The Cardinals (4-2 MIAC, 13-6 overall) are back on their home court on Wednesday, entertaining Macalester in a 7 p.m. MIAC matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.