By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
RIPON, Wis. — When the Saint Mary's University volleyball team took the court for their first match of the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational against Marian Friday night, it had been nine days since the Cardinals had last played.
 
Nine days to think about their last action — a 3-0 nonconference loss to UW-Stout.
 
And the Cardinals took out those nine days of frustration on the Sabres, spotting Marian a 1-0 lead, before rattling off three straight victories en route to a 3-1 nonconference win.
 
Saint Mary's picked up right where it left off in its second match of the evening, rolling to a 3-0 win over Milwaukee School of Engineering.
 
Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn.) led the Cardinals' offensive charge against Marian, hammering out 16 kills — one shy of her career high — while hitting a team-best .300.  Coral Anderson (Rogers, Minn.) chipped in 13 kills, with Lexi Barth (Byron, Minn.) adding 11 and Elise Amerongen (Woodbury, Minn.) equaling her career high with 10.
 
Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) dished out 52 assists, and DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.) finished with a team-best 17 digs. Hayley Weber (Gladbrook, Iowa) chipped in 15 digs and Hannah Skroch (Prior Lake, Minn.) added 13, while Barth notched her first collegiate double-double, adding a career-high 12 digs to her 11 kills.
 
 Barth led the way for the Cardinals in their 3-0 sweep of MSOE, recording 12 kills, while Braun delivered 28 assists and Baab chipped in 17 digs.
 
The Cardinals (4-3 overall) close out the two-day, Ripon Red Hawk Invitational on Saturday, squaring off against Beloit (noon) and host Ripon (2 p.m.).