By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team entered Saturday's showdown against St. Catherine still in the hunt for one of the six Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament berths.
 
A win against the Wildcats would be a huge step in the post-season direction.
 
St. Catherine, however, had other ideas, as the Wildcats dealt Saint Mary's playoff hopes a crushing blow with a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals at Butler Center.
 
The Wildcats jumped out early, taking the first set 25-17, but the Cardinals rebounded in impressive fashion, rolling to a 25-13 win in the second set to knot the match at 1-1.
 
From there, however, it was as St. Catherine, as the Wildcats rattled off wins of 25-23 and 25-21 to close out the match.
 
Lexi Barth (Byron, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinal offense, recording a 16-kill, 13-dig double-double, while Erin Lime (Lino Lakes, Minn.) and Coral Anderson (Rogers, Minn.) chipped in 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) added a double-double with 46 assists and 11 digs, with DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.) posting a team-best 31 digs.
 
Erin Cutts posted 12 kills and Erin Tebben added 11 for the Wildcats, who  also got 26 assists from Marissa Gilbertson and 15 from Abbi Harker, while Grace Amacher and Emma Nelson posted 30 and 25 digs.
 
The Cardinals (4-5 MIAC, 14-12 overall) — who slipped to seventh — one win out of the six-team MIAC post-season chase with two matches remaining — are back in MIAC play on Wednesday, heading to Northfield, Minn., for a 7 p.m. matchup against Carleton