By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team kicks off its 2019 schedule this weekend, hosting the annual Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic at the Gostomski Fieldhouse.
 
The Sugar Loaf Classic Field:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2018: 13-14 Overall), UW-Superior Yellowjackets (2018: 20-12 Overall), Luther Norse (2018: 15-17 Overall), UW-River Falls Falcons (2018: 16-19 Overall), Macalester Scots (2018: 9-19 Overall), University of Dubuque Spartans (2018: 24-9 Overall)
 
The Sugar Loaf Classic Schedule:
Friday, August 30, 2019 * Court 1 | Live Stats
• Saint Mary's v. UW-Superior, 2:00 | Macalester vs. University of Dubuque, 4:00, Saint Mary's v. University of Dubuque, 6:00
Friday, August 30, 2019 * Court 2 | Live Stats
• Luther v. UW-River Falls, 2:00 | Luther v. UW-Superior, 4:00 | Macalester v. UW-River Falls, 6:00
Saturday, August 31, 2019 * Court 1 | Live Stats
• UW-River Falls v. University of Dubuque, 10:00 | Saint Mary's v. UW-River Falls, Noon | Saint Mary's v. Luther, 2:00
Saturday, August 31, 2019 * Court 2 | Live Stats
• Macalester v. UW-Superior, 10:00 | Macalester v. Luther, Noon | University of Dubuque v. UW-Superior, 2:00
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Tournament Scoreboard | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• This weekend's matches are the season-openers for all six teams participating in the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic.
 
Saint Mary's vs. Sugar Loaf Opponents — Their Last Meeting:
• vs. UW-Superior — September 19, 2014 * Ripon, Wis.: As good as the Cardinals were in their tournament-opening 3-1 win over MSOE, they were even better in their second match of the season, cruising to a 3-0 win over UW-Superior at the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational | Recap
• vs. University of Dubuque — September 16, 2016 * Ripon, Wis.: Saint Mary's continued its winning ways during the opening day of the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational, pushing its winning streak to seven by picking up back-to-back wins over Alverno (3-0) and the University of Dubuque (3-1) | Recap
• vs. UW-River Falls — October 13, 2018 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals, coming off a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-20) decision to UW-Oshkosh earlier in the day, turned their game up a notch or two in the second match. After splitting the first two sets of their nonconference match against UW-River Falls, the Cardinals hit their stride, cruising to back-to-back wins for a 3-1 (26-24, 20-25, 25-15, 25-11) win over the Falcons | Recap
• vs. Luther — September 1, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's had so much fun playing a five-set match earlier in the day, the Cardinals figured they'd do it again in their second. Down 2-1 in its final match of the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic, the Cardinals rallied for a 25-22 win in Set 4, and added a 15-12 win the fifth set in dropping Luther 3-2 to complete a perfect 4-0 run through the two-day tournament | Recap
 
Cardinals Up Next:
• The Cardinals are back in action on Wednesday, playing host to UW-Stout in a 7 p.m. nonconference match at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• The Cardinals graduated three seniors from last year's squad — including First-Team All-MIAC and AVCA All-Region performer Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.). … Blattner closed out the year as the team leader in kills with 364. … Blattner boasted five matches of 20 or more kills — posting 20 kills against St. Olaf on Oct. 24, while also recording 21 kills three times, and delivering a season-high 22 kills vs. Lakeland on Sept. 9. … With her fourth kill against Saint Benedict on Sept. 28, Blattner became the 13th player in program history with 1,000 career kills. … Blattner closed out her career sitting 11th all-time with 1,164 career kills. … Blattner's 364 kills and 3.50 kills-per-set led the MIAC. … Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn.) was second to Blattner in kills a year ago with a career-high 235. … Kedl notched a career-high 17 kills against Luther on Sept. 1. … Saint Mary's boasted a season-high five players with 10 or more kills against Hamline on Oct. 19 — led by Blattner with 21. Linnaea Wallis (Dresser, Wis.) and Kedl each chipped in 15 kills, with Gloria Kitange (Rochester, Minn.) and Brittney Flom (Kenyon, Minn.) each adding 11. … Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) closed out the season with a single-season career-high 1,098 assists. … Braun's 1,098 assists are the most by a Cardinal in a season since 2013, when Lexi Assimos dished out 1,197. … Braun led the team with 13 double-doubles. … Braun dished out 50 or more assists in a match five times — including a single-season school-record 68 against Hamline on Oct. 19. It was the second time the junior setter had eclipsed the 60-assist mark in 2018, having delivered 63 helpers against Luther on Sept. 1. … Braun accounted for 68 of the team's 70 assists vs. Hamline on Oct. 19. … Grace Gilles (Apple Valley, Minn.) closed out her freshman year with a team-best 24 service aces, one more than Braun and Hayley Weber (Glenbrook, Iowa). … DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.), who recorded 20 or more digs nine times last season — including a career-best 26-dig effort against Luther on Sept. 1 — boasted a team-best 412 digs. … Blattner (292), Braun (258), and Weber (227) also recorded 200 or more digs this season. … Weber notched a career-high 20 digs in the Cardinals' 3-1 win over St. Catherine on Sept. 22. … Saint Mary's finished the year 4-7 in three-set matches, 3-5 in matches decided in four sets, and 6-2 in matches extended to a fifth set. … 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 UW-Superior Yellowjackets:
2019 Roster | 2018 Final Statistics | 2019 Schedule
• The Yellowjackets are coming off a 20-12 campaign in 2018, including reaching the UMAC Tournament semifinals, where they dropped a five-set match to UM-Morris. … UW-Superior had two players named First-Team All-UMAC, including returner Cami Sletta, while Taylor Howe returns after earning Second-Team All-UMAC honors following her freshman campaign a year ago. … How and Sletta led the Yellowjackets offense last season, accumulating 339 and 309 kills, respectively, while Brylee Colligan (179), Hannah Goggleve (168), and Anna Ribich (136) also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau. … All-UMAC First-Teamer Emily VerWay closed out her senior season in in 2018 with a team-leading 1,254 assists, while also leading the Yellowjackets with 44 aces. … Karlie Leif recorded a team-best 483 digs, followed by VerWay with 349 and Colligan with 30-5. … VerWay and Leif were the only Yellowjackets to play all 119 sets a year ago. … Fourteen of the Yellowjackets' 20 wins in 2018 were three-set victories. UW-Superior was 14-4 in three-set matches, 2-3 in four-setters, and 4-5 in matches that went the maximum five sets. … UW-Superior finished the year 10-3 on its home court, while going 10-9 away from home — including 4-4 in neutral-site matches.
 
Scouting The UW-River Falls Falcons:
2019 Roster | 2018 Final Statistics | 2019 Schedule
• The Falcons are coming off a 16-19 campaign in 2018, including a 1-6 showing in WIAC play. … The Falcons enter this year's Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic riding a three-match winning streak, having beating UW-Platteville, MSOE, and Maranatha Baptist to close out the 2018 season. … The Falcons return a pair of honorable-mention All-WIAC selections in Karli Nielsen and Hannah Robb. … Dakotah Poitra closed out 2018 with a team-leading 333 kills, followed by Nielsen (285), Hannah Striggow (276), Savannah Brauer (222), and Corynne Dahl (123). … Nielsen led the team with a .305 attack percentage. … Hailey Huseth and Mallory Griffin shared the setting duties a year ago, with Huseth dishing out 613 assists, followed by Griffin with 565. … Griffin also led the team in service aces with 62, while Robb ((45) and Poitra (38) also served up more than 30 aces last season. … UW-River Falls boasted five players with 200 or more digs a year ago, led by Robb (691), Poitra (447), and Striggow (397). …  Seven of the Falcons' 16 wins were three-set sweeps. The Falcons went 7-6 in three-set matches, 6-12 in four-setters, and 3-1 in matches extended to a fifth set. … The Falcons managed just one win on their home court in 2018, going 1-7. UW-River Falls finished 15-12 away from home — including 12-5 in neutral-set contests.
 
Scouting The Macalester Scots:
2019 Roster | 2018 Final Statistics | 2019 Schedule
• The Scots come into 2019 on the heels of a 9-19 season a year ago, including an 0-11 showing in MIAC play. … Macalester enters tournament play this weekend having dropped its final eight matches of the 2019 campaign. … Macalester closed out 2018 boasting four players — Nicole Bennington (200), Sofi Ascencio (166), Sofia Parmalee (149), and Grace Brickner (138) — who racked up 100 or more kills. … Emily Bowler dished out 713 of the team's 859 assists last season, while also sitting third on the team with 26 service aces. … Abrielle Dillon recorded a team-best 37 aces, six more than Ascencio and 11 in front of Dillon, while also leading the team with 449 digs. … Ascencio was second to Dillon with 220 digs, followed by Bowler (206) and Hannah Detlaff (195). … The Scots closed out the year with six players appearing in all 28 matches — Dillon, Ascencio, Bowler, Parmalee, Detlaff, and Nicole Bennington.
 
Scouting The University of Dubuque Spartans:
2019 Roster | 2018 Final Statistics | 2019 Schedule
• The Spartans are coming off an historic season in 2018, finishing 24-9 overall, including their first ARC conference tournament title since 1995 and their first NCAA national tournament appearance since 1998. … The Spartans fell to No. 10 University of Chicago 3-0 in their NCAA tournament-opener. … UD returns the reigning ARC MVP in Kara Wright — an AVCA Honorable-Mention All-American — the ARC Freshman of the Year in Kate Messino, and the ARC Coach of the Year in April Eisbernd. … Wright closed out her junior campaign with a team-leading 427 kills, while Rylee Andersen (246), Sarah Farraday (194), Kendra Witte (138), and Paige Herbort (122) also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau in 2018. … Messino amassed 1212 assists, accounting for all but 210 of the team's 1422 helpers. … Jenna Runde served up a team-high 45 aces, followed by Grace Strawser with 34 and Wright with 20. … UD boasted five players with 300 or more digs — Runde (584), Strawser (418), Wright (409), Messino (368), and Johanna Steggall (300). … The Spartans went 11-5 in three-set matches in 2018, while going 9-3 in four-setters and 4-1 in five-set matches. … UD closed out the year 8-2 on its home court, while going 16-7 on the road — including 8-2 in neutral-site matches.
 
Scouting The Luther Norse:
2019 Roster | 2018 Final Statistics | 2019 Schedule
• The Norse enter this weekend's season-opening Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic having gone 15-17 a year ago, including 5-3 in the American Rivers Conference. … Luther boasted two players who were named First-Team All-ARC last season — Emma Veum and Karissa Kime. … Veum became the first player in program history to be named first-team all-conference four times (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018). In 2015 she was also named the league's Co-Rookie of the Year. … The Norse finished 2018 with four players recording 100 or more kills — Kime (352), Veum (324), Anna Larson (298), and Katie Shabatura (169). … Veum ended the year with a team-best .312 attack percentage. … Sam Sixta dished out a team-leading 841 assists last season, while also leading the team in service aces with 42. … Sixta was one of four Norse with 20 or more aces in 2018, being joined by Larson (28), Shabatura (28), and Natalie Cote (22). … Cote owned a team-high 461 digs a year ago, followed by Emkily Rinken with 320 and Sixta with 292. … Larson, Sixta, Cote, and Rinken were the only players who appear in all 116 sets for the Norse a year ago. … Nine of Luther's 15 wins last season came in four sets. The Norse were 5-11 in three-set matches, 9-3 in four-setters, and 1-3 in matches that went five sets.