WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as the Cardinals entertain Macalester in a 7 p.m. showdown at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-2 MIAC * 13-6 Overall) vs. Macalester Scots (0-6 MIAC * 5-15 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats | GameDay Program
 
Their Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—October 6, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals picked up their second straight victory, outlasting Carleton 15-9 in the fifth set to deal the Knights a 3-2 MIAC setback at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• Macalester—October 7, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: Sofi Ascencio delivered 13 assists and 13 digs, but it was not enough, as St. Catherine dealt the Scots a 3-0 conference setback at Leonard Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Macalester—A Year Ago:
• October 22, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals, coming off two straight 3-1 losses—the first to league-leading Augsburg on Oct. 12 and the second at the hands of Bethel on Oct. 21—took out their frustrations on the Scots. Saint Mary's made it abundantly clear that there would be no three-match losing streak, riding the one-two punch of Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) and Lexi Barth (Byron, Minn.) to a convincing 3-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals hit the road this weekend, heading to St. Paul, Minn., to take part in the two-day, Northwestern-St. Paul Invitational. Saint Mary's will face seventh-ranked Northwester at 7 p.m. on Friday, before squaring off against UW-River Falls (10 a.m.) and UW-Whitewater (noon) the following day.
• Macalester: The Scots are back on the road on Saturday, heading to Minneapolis, Minn., for a pair of nonconference matches against North Central (11 a.m.) and Emmaus (1 p.m.).
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Wednesday's match against Macalester is the four straight home matches for the Cardinals, who are 5-1 at home, while going 7-4 away from the Saint Mary's Gym—including 5-1 in neutral-court matches. … With their win over Carleton last Friday, the Cardinals head into Wednesday's showdown with Macalester having won seven of their last 10 matches. … Saint Mary's has put together three, three-match winning streaks this season. On the flip side, the Cardinals have yet to drop back-to-back matches. … With their 3-2 win over Carleton last Friday, 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 boasted a season-high four players with double-doubles against Carleton last Friday. Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) recorded her team-leading ninth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 13 digs, while Lillian Braun (Kasson, Minn.) and Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) added 31-assist/15-dig and 13-assist/17-dig efforts for their seventh double-doubles of the year. Clare Tack (St. Charles, Ill.) chipped in her first collegiate double-double with 10 assists and a team-high 25 digs. … Braun's 31 assists vs. the Knights last Friday were a career high. … Hanson has now posted 20 or more assists in 13 of the Cardinals' 19 matches—including three matches of 30 or more helpers. … With her 31 assists against Carleton last Friday, Braun has delivered 20 or more assists six 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. … Blattner—an AVCA Second-Team All-American a year ago—heads into Wednesday's match against Macalester with a team-leading 222 kills, followed by Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn. / 139), Gloria Kitange (Rochester, Minn. / 121), Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn. / 106), and Linnaea Wallis (Dresser, Wis. / 102) … 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 430 helpers, with Braun close behind with 339. … Hanson posted a season-high 38-assist effort against Lawrence on Sept. 16. …  Braun and Hanson lead the team in aces with 26 each. … Tack boasts a team- and career-best 321 digs, while Blattner (183), Hanson (182), Braun (158), and Carley  Cronen (Kandiyohi, Minn. / 122) have also eclipsed the 100-dig plateau. … Cronen notched a career-best 22 digs in Saint Mary's 3-1 win over Wisconsin Lutheran on Sept. 8. … 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 Macalester Scots:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Wednesday's match against Saint Mary's is the first of four straight road matches for the Scots, who have not won an official "road" match this season—going 0-6 away from Leonard Center, while posting a 4-3 record in neutral-site matches. … Last Saturday's loss to St. Catherine pushed Macalester's losing streak to a season-high six straight. … Five of the Scots' six losses during their current slide have been 3-0 sweeps—the lone exception, a 3-1 setback to St. Olaf on Sept. 23. … Nine of Macalester's 15 losses have been decided in three sets, with the other six being 3-1 decisions. On the flip side, the Scots own one 3-0 victory—sweeping Crown on Sept. 2—while picking up three 3-1 wins and a 3-2 victory over MacMurray on Sept 15. … Clara Baumann and India Medaris head into Wednesday's match at Saint Mary's as the Scots' offensive leaders, compiling 239 and 234 kills, respectively. … Baumann and Medaris have accounted for 473 of the team's 710 kills through 20 matches. … Baumann is hitting a team-best .183, with Medaris close behind with a .183 attack percentage. … Sofi Ascencio has dished out a team-leading 439 assists this season, while Emily Bowler has chipped in 111 helpers. … Ascencio's 13-assist, 13-dig effort against St. Catherine last Saturday was her seventh double-double of the season. … Ascencio posted a season-high 44 assists iin the Scots' 3-1 win over Knox on Sept. 9. … Asencio has recorded 20 or more assists in 12 of the Scots' 20 matches. … Macalester boasts six players with 10 or more service aces, led by Debroah Pickford with 18 and Baumann with 15. … Baumann is also the team-leader in digs with 252, while Abrielle Dillon (237), Pickford (140), Medaris (139), and Ascencio (138) have also eclipsed the 100-dig plateau.