By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — It was a year filled with collegiate firsts for Saint Mary's University's Lexi Barth (Byron, Minn.) and DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.).
 
From career-highs in kills, digs, double-doubles … the list was endless for the Cardinal duo.
 
And Wednesday afternoon, they added yet another first to their resumes — First-Team All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
 
Both Barth and Baab were named to the 22-player All-MIAC squad for the first time in their collegiate careers when the conference office handed out its volleyball post-season awards.
 
Barth played in all 11 conference matches for the Cardinals, who finished 5-6 in MIAC play — and were eliminated from the MIAC post-season field on the final day of the regular season. The senior right-side recorded a team-high 136 kills (3.32 kps) in conference play, while adding seven aces, 108 digs, and 14 blocks.
 
Barth appeared in 27 of the team's 28 matches overall, amassing a team- and single-season career-high 282 kills — including 14 matches of 10 or more kills, highlighted by a career-best 19-kill effort against Hamline on Sept. 18. Barth picked up her first collegiate double-double Marian on Sept. 13 and recorded her eighth in Saint Mary's season-finale against Gustavus on Nov. 2. Along with her career-high 282 kills, Barth also delivered career-highs in aces (17) and digs (211) — including a single-match career-best 26-dig effort against Coe on Sept. 27.
 
In just her second year in a Cardinal uniform, there certainly was no sophomore slump for Baab, who, like Barth, started all 11 MIAC matches this season. The second-year libero delivered 252 digs (5.86 dps) in the Cardinals' 11 conference contests, while also adding 12 aces.
 
Baab closed out her sophomore campaign leading the team with a single-season career-high 549 digs, ranking No. 3 in the MIAC — and putting her fifth in single-season program history. Baab, who collected 10 or more digs in all 27 matches she played in this season, recorded a career-high 42 digs in the Cardinals' match against Hamline on Sept. 18 — it was the most digs in a match since Theresa Perrini recorded a school-record 48 against Loras, also during the 2008 season.
 
Saint Benedict's Hunter Weiss was named the MIAC Player of the Year, while regular-season champion St. Thomas' Ellie Meyer was named Defensive Player of the Year and Selena Levendoski took home Rookie of the Year honors. UST's Thanh Pham, who guided the Tommies to a perfect 11-0 run through the conference schedule, was tabbed MIAC Coach of the Year.
 
The MIAC also announced the 13th annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for volleyball, which included the Cardinals' Coral Anderson (Rogers, Minn.)