By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team is back in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as the Cardinals head to Augsburg's Si Melby Hall for a 7 p.m. matchup against Augsburg.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-3 MIAC, 14-9 Overall) at #13 Augsburg Auggies (5-2 MIAC, 18-4 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — October 19, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: For the second time in their last three matches, the Cardinals knocked off a nationally ranked team, rattling off three straight set wins in beating No. 23 St. Olaf 3-1 at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• Augsburg — October 18-19, 2019 • Duluth, Minn./Moorhead, Minn.: The Auggies picked up a pair of wins last weekend, rolling to a 3-0 nonconference victory at St. Scholastica last Friday, before dropping Concordia 3-1 in an MIAC showdown the following afternoon | CSS Recap * CC Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg — Their Last Meeting:
• October 24, 2018 • Winona, Minn.: Augsburg rallied for a come-from-behind win in the opening set and never took its foot off the accelerator, as the Auggies dealt Saint Mary's a 3-0 setback in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back on the road this weekend, heading to St. Paul, Minn., for a pair of matches. Saint Mary's will square off against Northwestern in a 7 p.m. nonconference tilt on Friday, before heading to St. Catherine for a 3 p.m. MIAC matchup against the Wildcats on Saturday.
• Augsburg: The Auggies have a pair of matches this weekend, hosting Bethany Lutheran in a 7 p.m. nonconference contest at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn., on Friday, before returning to conference play with a 3 p.m. matchup against Bethel in Arden Hills, Minn., the following day.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Wednesday's match against Augsburg is the first of five consecutive road contests for the Cardinals, who are 9-4 away from the Saint Mary's Gym this season. … The Cardinals' 3-1 win over No. 23 St. Olaf last Saturday marked the second time in the last three matches that Saint Mary's knocked off a nationally ranked team. The Cardinals beat then-No. 5 Saint Benedict 3-1 on Oct. 11. … With their win over St. Olaf, the Cardinals have now won three straight — sandwiching 3-1 wins over Saint Benedict and St. Olaf around a 3-2 win over Concordia. … The Cardinals have lost the opening set in each match during their current three-match winning streak. … Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals against St. Olaf last Saturday, recording a team-high 14 kills, while hitting a whopping .557. … Lexi Barth (Byron, Minn.) recorded back-to-back double-doubles against Saint Benedict and Concordia on Oct. 11-12, while Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) also posted a double-double against the Cobbers on Oct. 12. Braun and Barth now share the team lead in double-doubles (5) with Linnaea Wallis (Dresser, Wis.). … Barth posted her first collegiate double-double against Marian on Sept. 13, posting 11 kills and adding a career-best 12 digs, while Elise Amerongen (Woodbury, Minn.) also posted her first double-double in a Cardinal uniform with a 10-kill, 17-dig showing against Beloit on Sept. 14. … Saint Mary's posted a season-high four players — Linnaea Wallis (Dresser, Wis. / 18), Barth (17), Erin Lime (Lino Lakes, Minn. / 14), and Daynalyn Jostock (Millville, Minn.) — with 10 or more kills against Concordia on Oct. 12, while DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.) led a season-best five Cardinals in double figures with 28 digs. … Barth enters Wednesday's match against Augsburg leading the team in kills with 235, followed by Wallis (213), Kedl (172), and Jostock (171). … With her 43 assists against St. Olaf last Saturday, Braun pushed her team-leading total to 907 through 22 matches. … Braun has eclipsed the 50-assist barrier five times and 10 times during her collegiate career. … Braun's 65 assists vs. Concordia on Oct. 12 were two short of her school-record 67-assist effort against Hamline Sept. 18. … Braun, who owned a single-season career-high 1,098 assists a year ago — the most by a Cardinal in a season since 2013, when Lexi Assimos dished out 1,197 — has posted 20 or more assists in 49 of her last 50 matches and has recorded 20 or more assists 66 times in her four-year career. … Braun — who accounted for 43 of the team's 46 assists against St. Olaf last Saturday — recorded 364 of the team's 386 assists in the last eight matches. … Braun heads into Wednesday's match against Augsburg with 2,902 career assists — eclipsing the 2,000 career assist mark with her sixth helper against UW-Superior on Aug. 30. … The Cardinals have recorded 136 service aces this season, led by DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn. / 21) and Braun (20). … Baab owns a team-high 447 digs through 23 matches, while Braun is second with 191. … Baab recorded a career-high 42 digs in the Cardinals' loss to Hamline on Sept. 18 — it was the most digs in a match since Theresa Perrini had 41 against Augsburg in 2008, and was just six digs shy of Perrini's single-match school-record 48, set against Loras, also during the 2008 season. … Lime's 14 kills against Concordia on Oct. 12 were a season high. … Hannah Skroch (Prior Lake, Minn.) delivered a career-best 15 digs against Saint Benedict on Oct. 11 and equaled that mark against Concordia the following day. … Jostock recorded a career-best 18 kills in Saint Mary's 3-1 win over Augustana on Sept. 28. … Coral Anderson (Rogers, Minn.) equaled her career high with 14 kills against Beloit on Sept. 14, while Hope Miner (Prescott, Wis.) recorded a career-best 11 kills against the Buccaneers. … Jordan Meyers (Eyota, Minn.) owned a career-high 18 digs and Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) dished out a career-high 35 assists against Beloit on Sept. 14, while Cronen notched a career-best 15 digs against Ripon that same day. … Wallis' 17 kills against UW-Superior on Aug. 30 and 19 digs vs. UW-River Falls the following day were both career highs. … With their win over St. Olaf last Saturday, eight of the Cardinals' last 12 victories have been 3-1 decisions. … Saint Mary's owns four, three-set wins, while going 6-1 in four-setters and adding two, five-set victory. On the flip side, six of Saint Mary's nine losses have been 3-0 sweeps. The Cardinals have also dropped two, five-set matches. … With their 2-2 showing at this year's season-opening Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic, the Cardinals are now 13-3 in their last four Sugar Loaf Classics, while going 19-5 in their last six.
 
Scouting The Augsburg Auggies:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• The Auggies head into Wednesday's conference matchup against Saint Mary's ranked No. 13 in the latest AVCA Top 25. … Wednesday's match against Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back home contests for the Auggies, who play four of their final five matches at Si Melby Hall — where they are a perfect 8-0 this season. … Last weekend's wins over St. Scholastica and Concordia pushed the Auggies' winning streak to five straight. … Kayla Gjerde owns a team-high 242 kills and is one of six Auggies who have eclipsed the 100-kill barrier this season. Corrina Evans (173), Maddie Nierengarten (141), Megan Quam (134), Jade Boysen (106), and Jade Fullerton (105) are the other five. … Evans is hitting a team-leading .313, followed by Quam (.256) and Gjerde (.242). … Izzy Barr and Lexie Lang have shared the setting duties for the Auggies this season, with Barr dishing out 364 assists, followed closely by Lang with 350. … Along with her team-leading 364 assists, Barr also leads the team in aces with 52, followed by Nierengarten (28) and Jaelin Rios (19). … Augsburg has amassed 1283 digs and boasts five players — Rios (298), Gjerde (229), Barr (186), Nierengarten (185), and Lang (172) — with 100 or more digs. … Augsburg has posted eight, three-set wins this season, while adding six four-set victories and four five-setters. On the flip side, two of the Auggies' four losses have been 3-0 sweeps. Augsburg has also dropped one four-setter and one that has gone the maximum five sets. … Augsburg has won the first set in all 18 of its wins this season, while dropping the first set in all four of its losses.