By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
RIPON, Wis. — Through their first five matches of the season, the Saint Mary's University volleyball team had yet to play a four-set match.
 
Through the first three matches of the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational this weekend, the Cardinals had already played two four-setters — both victories.
 
Saint Mary's opened the two-day tournament with a 3-1 win over Marian on Friday, and followed that up with a four-set, 3-1 victory over Beloit to kick off Saturday's second day.
 
In their final match of the tournament, the Cardinals completed the tournament sweep, rolling to a 3-0 win over host Ripon.
 
The Cardinals raced out to a 2-0 lead against Beloit in their Saturday opener, winning 25-17 and 25-22, but the Buccaneers outlasted SMU in the third set, 26-24, before Saint Mary's iced the win with a convincing 25-15 victory in Set 4.
 
Lexi Barth (Byron, Minn.) and Coral Anderson (Rogers, Minn.) led the Cardinals' offense against Beloit, each hammering out 14 kills, while Hope Miner (Prescott, Wis.) chipped in a career-best 11 and Elise Amerongen (Woodbury, Minn.) added 10. Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) dished out a career-high 35 assists, and Carly Cronen (Kandiyohi, Minn.) led four players in double figures with 20 digs. Amerongen picked up her first collegiate double-double vs. Beloit, adding 17 digs to her 10 kills, while Jordan Meyers (Eyota, Minn.) finished with a career-high 18 digs.
 
Saint Mary's never let Ripon get into its rhythm in the second match of the afternoon, cruising to wins of 25-14, 25-15 and 25-19 to end the tournament 4-0.
 
Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn.) collected a team-leading 14 kills and hit .458 for the Cardinals, while Amerongen added 10 kills. Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) finished with 38 assists, with DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.) and Grace Gilles (Apple Valley, Minn.) added 16 and 15 digs, respectively.
 
The Cardinals (6-3 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, returning home to the Saint Mary's Gym to face Hamline in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener. Match time is set for 7 p.m.