WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, as the Cardinals welcome Saint Benedict to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 7 p.m. matchup.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-1 MIAC * 11-5 Overall) vs. Saint Benedict Blazers (2-1 MIAC * 7-6 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Their Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—September 23, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals outlasted St. Catherine, getting 18 kills and 17 digs from Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.)—not to mention 38 digs from Clare Tack (St. Charles, Ill.)—in a 3-2 victory at Butler Center | Recap
• Saint Benedict—September 26, 2017 * St. Joseph, Minn.: The Blazers made quick work of St. Scholastica in the teams' nonconference match at Claire Lynch Hall, as CSB rolled held the Saints to fewer than 19 points in all three sets en route to the 3-0 victory | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint Benedict—A Year Ago:
• September 30, 2016 * St. Joseph, Minn.: After being dominated in the first set of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against Saint Benedict, the Cardinals flexed their muscles, rattling off three straight wins—including a come-from-behind 26-24 win in the fourth set—to seal a 3-1 victory over Saint Benedict at Claire Lynch Hall | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are right back on their home court at the Saint Mary's Gym on Saturday, entertaining Concordia in a 3 p.m. conference match.
• Saint Benedict: The Blazers hit the court again on Saturday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference contest against Carleton.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• After six straight road contests, the Cardinals play their next four straight matches on their home court—starting Friday against St. Benedict. … Saint Mary's enters this weekend's matches against Saint Benedict and Concordia owning a 4-1 record on its home court. The Cardinals are 7-4 away from the Saint Mary's Gym—including 5-1 in neutral-court matches. … With last Saturday's win over St. Catherine, the Cardinals have won five of their last seven. … 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 St. Catherine last Saturday, the Cardinals have played seven, five-set matches this season—beating Carthage, Central-Iowa, No. 8 Washington (Mo.) University, Bethel, and St. Catherine, while falling to UW-Oshkosh and Lawrence. Saint Mary's played just one five-setter a year ago. … Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) posted her team-leading seventh double-double of the season against St. Catherine last Saturday, notching 18 kills and 17 digs. … Blattner—who recorded 13 double-doubles a year ago—has now posted 10 or more kills in four straight matches and 11 times this season. … Blattner was one of three Cardinals to record double-doubles against the Wildcats last Saturday—Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) and Lillian Braun (Kasson, Minn.) posted 26 assists/13 digs and 23 assists/14 digs, respectively. … The double-doubles were the sixth of the season for both Hanson and Braun. … Hanson has now posted 20 or more assists in 11 of the Cardinals' 15 matches—including three matches of 30 or more helpers. … With her 23 assists against St. Catherine last Saturday, Braun has now recorded 20 or more assists five times this season—including a career-best 29 assists in Saint Mary's 3-1 win over Wisconsin Lutheran on Sept. 8. … Clare Tack (St. Charles, Ill.) posted a career-high 38 digs against St. Catherine last Saturday. … 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 Friday's match against Saint Benedict with a team-leading 183 kills, followed by Gloria Kitange (Rochester, Minn. / 121), and Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn. / 110). … 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 373 helpers, with Braun close behind with 273. … Hanson posted a season-high 38-assist effort against Lawrence on Sept. 16. …  Braun leads the team in aces with 20, on more than Hanson and two more than Tack. … Tack boasts a team-best 258 digs, while Hanson (154), Blattner (149), Braun (135), and Carley  Cronen (Kandiyohi, Minn. / 117) 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. … 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 Saint Benedict Blazers:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Friday's match against Saint Mary's is the first of three straight road matches for the Blazers, who are 5-6 away from Claire Lynch Hall this season. … The Blazers have played just two of their first 13 matches at home—posting back-to-back 3-0 wins over Hamline and St. Scholastica over the past eight days. … Fueled by their sweeps of Hamline and St. Scholastica, CSB enters Friday's match against Saint Mary's having won two straight and four of its last five. … Madison Weiss recorded a career-high 15 kills and hit .583 in the Blazers' win over St. Scholastica last Tuesday, while Hunter Weiss added 12 kills and Megan Pekarek dished out 38 assists. … Hunter Weiss heads into Friday's showdown at Saint Mary's owning a team-high 139 kills and is hitting .258. … Liz Schultz has also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau this season with 122, while Briana Schmiesing is third on the team with 95. … Pekarek has accounted for 466 of the Blazers' 555 assists through 13 matches—including 10 matches of 30 or more helpers. … Pekarek posted a season-high 48 assists against St. Olaf on Sept. 15. … Schultz and Schmiesing are the team's leaders in aces with 24 and 17, respectively, while Haley LaValle leads three players with 100 or more digs. LaValle boasts a team-best 199 digs, followed by Schultz (136) and Pekarek (111). … Saint Benedict's last six matches have all been 3-0 decisions—the Blazers swept UW-Stout, UW-River Falls, Hamline, and St. Scholastica, while falling  to 25^th-ranked UW-Stevens Point and St. Thomas.