By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team is back in action on Wednesday, as the Cardinals entertain UW-Stout in a 7 p.m. nonconference match at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-2 Overall) vs. UW-Stout Blue Devils (2-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—August 30-31, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals opened their season with a pair of wins and a pair of losses at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic. Saint Mary's beat UW-Superior (3-2) and lost to the University of Dubuque (3-0) on Friday, while falling to UW-River Falls (3-2) and beating Luther (3-0) the following day | UW-Superior Recap * Dubuque Recap * Day 2 Recap
• UW-Stout—August 31, 2019 * Whitewater, Wis.: The Blue Devils picked up a pair of season-opening wins last Saturday at the UW-Whitewater Tournament, sweeping both Carleton (3-0) and Lakeland (3-0) | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-Stout — Their Last Meeting:
• October 3, 2018 * Menomonie, Wis.: The Cardinals, still smarting from back-to-back conference losses to Saint Benedict and Concordia last weekend, took out their frustrations on the host Blue Devils, dealing UW-Stout a 3-1 setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals take to the road for the first time this season on Friday and Saturday, traveling to Ripon, Wis., to take part in the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational. Saint Mary's will face Marian (5 p.m.) and MSOE (7 p.m.) on Friday, before squaring off against Beloit (noon), and host Ripon (2 p.m.) the following afternoon.
• UW-Stout: The Blugolds are back on the road this weekend, taking part in the UW-Oshkosh Pizza Hut Classic. UW-Stout will take on Wisconsin Lutheran (3:30 p.m.) and Carroll (7:30 p.m.) on Friday, with matches against Oswego (11:30 a.m.) and Lawrence (3:30 p.m.) on Saturday.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• The Cardinals kicked off their season with a 2-2 showing at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic — with two matches ending in 3-0 sweeps and the other two going the maximum five sets. … Linnaea Wallis (Dresser, Wis.) recorded her first three collegiate double-doubles at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic last weekend. Wallis notched 17 kills and 17 digs against UW-Superior last Friday, before adding a 14-kill, 19-dig effort against UW-River Falls and a 10-kill, 12-dig performance against Luther the following day. … Wallis' 17 kills against UW-Superior and 19 digs vs. UW-River Falls were both career highs. … Daynalyn Jostock's (Millville, Minn.) 11 kills in the Cardinals' 3-2 loss to UW-River Falls last Saturday at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic were a career high. … Wallis finished the two-day Sugar Loaf Classic with a team-leading 50 kills, four more than Lexi Barth (Byron, Minn.), while Jostock chipped in 34 and Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn.) added 33. … Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) accounted for 157 of the Cardinals' 182 assists — including 54 in Saint Mary's season-opening 3-2 win over UW-Superior. … Braun's 54 assists vs. UW-Superior marked the sixth time the Cardinal senior has recorded 50 or more helpers in her career. … 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 each of her last 31 matches — including all 27 matches a year ago — and has recorded 20 or more assists 48 times in her four years. … Braun heads into Wednesday's nonconference match against UW-Stout with 2,152 career assists — eclipsing the 2,000 career assist mark with her sixth helper against UW-Superior on Aug. 30. … Braun picked up her first double-double of the season against UW-River Falls, dishing out 46 assists and adding 18 digs. … Saint Mary's delivered 27 services aces in four Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic matches last weekend, led by Bran with 7, Kedl with six, and Grace Gilles (Apple Valley, Minn.) with five. … DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.) posted a team-high 84 digs at the Sugar Loaf Classic, followed by Wallis with 62. … The Cardinals are now 13-3 in their last four Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classics, while going 19-5 in their last six.
 
Scouting The UW-Stout Blue Devils:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• The Blue Devils head into Wednesday's nonconference showdown against Saint Mary's on the heels of back-to-back 3-0 wins over Carleton and Lakeland last Saturday at the UW-Whitewater Tournament. … Saint Mary's is the second of five opponents from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the Blue Devils, who also have Hamline, Bethel, and St. Olaf on their schedule. … Lexie Nelson banged out a team-leading 27 kills in the Blue Devils' two wins at the UW-Whitewater Tournament, while Amber Ripley chipped in 20. … UW-Stout had five players with 10 or more kills at the UW-Whitewater Tournament. Along with Nelson and Ripley, Lydia Kneubuehl chipped in 15 kills, and Emily Makina and McKylie Hoff added 12 and 11, respectively. … Jessica Duval finished with a team-best 42 assists last weekend, while Nelson added 29. … UW-Stout recorded 15 service aces at the UW-Whitewater Tournament, led by Duval, Steph Cannon, and Summer Garr with four each. … Cannon also collected a team-high 28 digs, six more than Ripley, with Nelson (19) and Duval (16) also notching 15 or more digs. … Cannon recorded a single-season school-record 675 digs a year ago and owns the career digs record, sitting at 1,592. … UW-Stout's match at Saint Mary's Wednesday is the third of 12 straight road matches to open the season for the Blue Devils, who do not play a home match until Sept. 17, when they kick off WIAC play against UW-Platteville. …