By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, hosting Hamline in a 7 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Matchups:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-4 MIAC, 12-11 Overall) vs. Hamline Pipers (1-6 MIAC, 11-10 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—October 17, 2018 * La Crosse, Wis.: The Cardinals fell behind 2-0 and could not recover in falling to UW-La Crosse 3-2 in their final nonconference match of the season | Recap
• Hamline—October 16, 2018 * Duluth, Minn.: The Pipers posted back-to-back 25-22 wins, before completing the sweep of St. Scholastica with a convincing 25-14 win in the third set — extending HU's winning streak to five straight | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Hamline — Their Last Meeting:
• October 20, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: Saint Mary's dominated the Pipers in the first, third and fourth sets in cruising to a key 3-1 MIAC 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 | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are right back in action on Saturday, as they return to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 3 p.m. conference showdown against St. Thomas.
• Hamline: The Pipers return home to Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday, entertaining St. Catherine in a 3 p.m. MIAC match.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• After nine consecutive road matches, Friday's contest against Hamline is the first of four straight home matches for the Cardinals to close out the regular season. … Wednesday's 3-1 loss to UW-La Crosse was the final nonconference match of the season for the Cardinals, who finished 9-7 in nonleague play. … Saint Mary's 3-2 setback against Northwestern last Friday was the Cardinals' first five-set loss of the season for the Cardinals, who had won their first five five-setters. … Gloria Kitange (Rochester, Minn.) delivered a team-high 16 kills and hit .406 against UW-La Crosse Wednesday, while Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) added 15 kills. … Kitange and Blattner combined for 31 of the team's 45 kills against the Eagles. … Kitange's 16 kills against UW-La Crosse Wednesday were a season high. … Blattner's 21 kills against Northwestern last Friday marked the third time this season the senior has eclipsed the 20-kill plateau. She also recorded 21 kills against Luther on Sept. 1 and delivered a season-high 22 kills vs. Lakeland on Sept. 9. … With her fourth kill against Saint Benedict on Sept. 28, Blattner became the 13^th player in program history with 1,000 career kills. … Blattner — who owns a team-leading 303 kills and is second on the team with nine double-doubles — heads into Friday's match against Hamline sitting 11^th all-time with 1,103 career kills. … Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) picked up her team-leading 11th double-double against UW-La Crosse, dishing out 38 assists and adding 16 digs. … With her 46 assists against Northwestern and 45 against UW-River Falls last weekend, Braun has now posted eight matches of 40 of more assists this season. … Braun — who has amassed a single-season career-high 852 assists — boasts three matches of 50 or more assists this season, including a career-high 63 assists against Luther on Sept. 1. … Braun's 63 assists vs. Luther on Sept. 1 were the second-most in program history, just two shy of record-holder Brittany Cherwinka—who, ironically, is Luther's current head coach. … Rachel Kedl is currently second to Blattner in kills with 187, while Brittney Flom (Kenyon, Minn.) has also eclipsed the 100-kill mark, sitting at 133. … Along with her 852 assists, Braun also leads the team in service aces with 22. Braun is one of seven Cardinals with 10 or more aces this season — Hayley Weber (Gladbrook, Iowa / 21), Grace Gilles (Apple Valley, Minn. / 20), Blattner (18), Carley Cronen (Kandiyohi, Minn. / 18), Baab (17), and Kedl (13) are the others. … Baab is the team's digs lead with 343, while Blattner (247), Braun (224), Weber (194), and Cronen (143) have also eclipsed the 100-dig plateau. … Baab — who has posted 20 or more digs seven times this season — put together a single-match career-high 26 digs against Luther on Sept. 1. … Weber recorded a career-high 20 digs in the Cardinals' 3-1 win over St. Catherine on Sept. 22. … Saint Mary's is 4-6 in three-set matches, 3-4 in matches decided in four sets, and 5-1 in matches extended to a fifth set. … After not recording a four-set win through their first seven wins this season, three of Cardinals' last five victories have been 3-1 decisions. … The Cardinals had their season-opening four-match winning streak snapped with a 3-0 loss to UW-Stevens Point in the opening day of the UW-Stevens Point Tournament on Sept. 8. … With their 4-0 performance at the season-opening Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic, the Cardinals are now 11-1 in their last three Classic appearances—and 17-3 in their last five.
 
Scouting The Hamline Pipers:
2018 Roster | 2018 Statistics | 2018 Schedule
• The Pipers play three of their final four matches on the road — beginning Friday night at Saint Mary's. … With their 3-0 win over St. Scholastica on Tuesday, the Pipers pushed their winning streak to a season-high five straight — it's the longest HU winning streak since the 2014 season. … Tuesday's victory over St. Scholastica was Hamline's 11^th of the season — five more wins than the Pipers had all of last year. … After posting back-to-back 3-1 wins to kick off their current five-match run, the Pipers have won each of their last three contests by 3-0 scores. … Hamline enters Friday's match against Saint Mary's boasting four players who have collected 100 or more kills this season — led by Madison Hurrle with 212. Sydney Larson (152), Gabby Robinson (137), and Morgen Coleman (107) have also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau. … Along with her team-best 212 kills, Hurrle is also hitting a team-high .264. … Megan Rubbelke is the team's assist leader with 596, while Coleman owns a team-high 28 service aces. … Coleman is one of three Pipers with 20 or more aces, being joined by Erin Tadych (24) and Rubbelke (22). … Hamline has seven players — Rubbelke (190), Robinson (178), Tadych (145), Coleman (140), Megan Anderson (132), Karly Bihner (105), and Larson (105) — with 100 or more digs. … Eight of Hamline's 11 wins this season have been 3-0 sweeps, with the Pipers also adding two four-set wins and a season-opening five-set victory over Simpson. On the flip side, Hamline has been swept five times, while losing four, four-set matches and one five-setter.