ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — If one thing could be said about the Saint Mary's University volleyball team Friday evening, it was that the Cardinals were consistently consistent.
 
Which, unfortunately, was not a good thing, as Saint Benedict dealt Saint Mary's its third straight 3-0 setback with back-to-back-to-back 25-17 victories at Claire Lynch Hall.
 
The Bennies recorded the first point of the opening set, and never relinquished the lead, building their advantage to as many as 10 points, 18-8, before holding off a late Cardinal charge in recording a 25-17 Set 1 win.
 
Saint Mary's notched the opening point of the second set, and held one-point leads of 4-3 and 7-6, but that would be the only time the Cardinals would play from in front, as the Bennies slowly took charge, scoring the last three points of the set for a second straight 25-17 victory.
 
The third set looked eerily similar to the second, as Saint Mary's scored first, led 2-1 and 4-3, only to have Saint Benedict rattle off six of the next seven points and never look back en route to 25-17 victory No. 3 — sealing the Bennies' 3-0 sweep.
 
Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) led the Cardinals with 18 kills and nine digs, while Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) tallied her team-leading sixth double-double with 27 assists and 12 digs. DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.) posted a team-high 17 digs and Hannah Skroch (Savage, Minn.) chipped in 12.
 
The Cardinals (3-3 MIAC, 7-15 overall) are right back in action on Saturday, when they travel to Concordia's Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead, Minn., for their final road contest of the regular season, a 3 p.m. showdown against the Cobbers.