By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team returns to conference play on Wednesday, heading to Carleton's West Gym for a 7 p.m. MIAC matchup against the Knights.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-5 MIAC, 14-12 Overall) at Carleton Knights (2-7 MIAC, 6-18 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — October 25-26, 2019 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals dropped both of their matches last weekend, falling to Northwestern 3-0 in their final nonconference match of the season on Friday, before suffering a 3-1 conference setback to St. Catherine the following afternoon | UNW Recap * SCU Recap
• Carleton — October 25-26, 2019 • St. Joseph, Minn./Moorhead, Minn.: The Knights came up empty in their two conference matches last weekend, being swept 3-0 by both Saint Benedict and Concordia | CSB Recap * CC Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Carleton — Their Last Meeting:
• October 5, 2018 • Northfield, Minn.: The Cardinals took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in their conference showdown against Carleton, but needed a 19-17 win in set No. 5 to outlast the Knights 3-2 | Recap
 
MIAC Playoff Picture
• The Cardinals head into the final two matches of the conference season deadlocked with Concordia, Bethel, and St. Catherine for the sixth and final MIAC Tournament berth with 4-5 conference records. St. Thomas (9-0), Augsburg (7-2), and Saint Benedict (7-2) have already earned post-season bids, while St. Olaf (6-3) is sitting fourth, and Gustavus (5-4) is fifth.
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back on the road to close out their regular-season schedule, heading to Gustavus' Lund Center Gym in St. Peter, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference showdown against the Gusties.
• Carleton: The Knights return to action on Friday, heading across town to St. Olaf's Skoglund Center for a 7 p.m. MIAC contest against the cross-town rival Oles.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Wednesday's match at Carleton is the fourth of five consecutive road matches to close out the regular season for the Cardinals, who are 9-7 away from the Saint Mary's Gym this season. … Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) recorded her team-leading seventh double-double of the season against St. Catherine last Saturday, posting 46 assists and adding 11 digs. … With the 29th of her 46 assists against St. Catherine last Saturday; Braun became the fourth player in program history to eclipse the 3,000 career assist mark. Braun, who owns 1,024 assists this season — cracked both the 2,000- and 3,000-career assist marks this year, reaching 2,000 career assists with her sixth helper against UW-Superior on Aug. 30. … Braun is now the first Cardinal since Brittney Cherwinka closed out her collegiate career with 3,164 assists in 2010. … Braun has eclipsed the 50-assist barrier five times this season 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 52 of her last 53 matches and has recorded 20 or more assists 69 times in her four-year career. … Lexi Barth (Byron, Minn.) picked up her sixth double-double against St. Catherine last Saturday, recording 16 kills and 13 digs. … Linnaea Wallis (Dresser, Wis.) is currently third on the team with five double-doubles. … Barth notched 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. … Barth enters Wednesday's match at Carleton leading the team in kills with 263, followed by Wallis (234), Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn. / 198), and Daynalyn Jostock (Millville, Minn. / 186). …  The Cardinals have recorded 150 service aces this season, led by Braun (25) and DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn. / 23). … Baab owns a team-high 510 digs through 26 matches, while Braun is second with 223. … 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. … Saint Mary's posted a season-high four players — Wallis (18), Barth (17), Erin Lime (Lino Lakes, Minn. / 14), and Jostock (12) — with 10 or more kills against Concordia on Oct. 12, while Baab led a season-best five Cardinals in double figures with 28 digs. … 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 on Oct. 19, 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, seven of Saint Mary's 12 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 Carleton Knights:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Wednesday's match against Saint Mary's is the final home contest for the Knights, who own a 3-5 record at West Gym this season. … With their losses to Saint Benedict and Concordia last weekend, the Knights have now dropped seven of their last eight matches — with all seven ending in 3-0 sweeps. … Abby Loe heads into Wednesday's conference showdown against Saint Mary's leading the team with 256 kills and a .187 attack percentage. … Loe is one of four Knights who have recorded 100 or more kills this season, being joined by Grace Leuchtenberger (153), Olivia Powell (149), and Jacyn Appel (149). … Inger Shelton has been Carleton's go-to setter this season, recording 621 of the team's 736 assists. … Loe and Shelton share the team lead with 28 service aces, one more than Naiya Karl, with Natalie Mun (18) and Leuchtenberger (10) also posting 10 or more aces. … Carleton boasts four players — Tegan Carlson (249), Loe (195), Shelton (187), and Celeste Chen (184) — with 100 or more digs. … Twelve of Carleton's 18 losses this season have been 3-0 sweeps — the Knights are 0-12 in matches decided in three sets. … Four of the Knights' six wins have been decided in four sets.