WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team played its first match of the season. on Sept. 3 — and after 28 days and 17 road contests, the Cardinals finally played in front of their home crowd Friday evening.
 
 And the Cardinals put on quite the show for the home crowd.
 
Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) posted her team-leading fifth double-double and DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.) delivered a team-high 29 digs, as the Cardinals rolled to their second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win in three tries, dropping St. Scholastica 3-1.
 
After surrendering three of the first five points of the opening set, the Cardinals took control, building leads as big as nine, before holding off a late-set Saints' run to seal a 25-19 victory.
 
It was the Saints who took control in the second set, scoring five unanswered points to turn a 10-10 deadlock into a 15-10 advantage. CSS pushed that advantage to six, 23-17, and — like the Cardinals did in the first set — the Saints withstood a late SMU push to knot the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 victory.
 
The third set began as the first two had — a see-saw affair that saw the two teams deadlocked at 15-15. The Cardinals weren't about to follow the same script this time around, however, as they ended the set on a 10-1 run for a 25-16 win and a 2-1 lead.
 
Saint Mary's seized control of the fourth set — and ultimately the match — midway through the set, pulling away from a 13-13 tie with four unanswered points and never looked back in sealing the win with a 25-18 victory.
 
Elise Amerongen (Lake Elmo, Minn.) led the Cardinals with 12 kills, while Faith Van Erp (Sartell, Minn.) chipped in nine, and Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) added eight. Schmidt dished out 21 assists and added 14 digs and Baab led four Cardinals in double figures in digs with her season-high 29. McNally added 15 digs, followed by Hannah Skroch (Savage, Minn.) with 15 and Schmidt with 14.
 
The Cardinals (2-1 MIAC, 6-12 overall) are right back in action Saturday, heading to St. Catherine's Butler Center Gym in St. Pal, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference match against the Wildcats.