• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary's heads into Saturday's conference match against Bethel sporting a 7-17 overall record — including a 3-5 conference mark.
• LAST NIGHT: Despite double-doubles from Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) and Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.), the Cardinals came up short in their conference match against Macalester, falling to the Scots 3-2 at the Saint Mary's Gym.
• END OF THE ROAD: Last Saturday's match at Concordia was the final road contest of the season for the Cardinals — who played their first 17 matches of the season on the road. Saint Mary's closes out the regular-season with home conference matches against Bethel, St. Olaf, and Gustavus.
• CAREER PERFORMANCES: McNally — who recorded a program-record 32 kills in the Cardinals' 3-2 victory against Carleton on Sept. 15 — notched a career-high 18 digs in the Cardinals' 3-1 win over St. Scholastica on Oct. 1. … McNally's 32 kills against Carleton were not only a career-high, but also a single-match, program record, breaking the previous mark of 31, set by Brandi Blattner on Oct. 21, 2016. … Braidyn Ruetten (Holmen, Wis.) and Pigorsch each turned in career performances against Carroll on Sept. 24., with Ruetten pounded out a career-high 17 kills, while Pigorsch added a career-best 14. … Amerongen posted a career-best 13 kills in the Cardinals' 3-1 win over Westminster (Mo.) on Sept. 17. … Faith Van Erp (Sartell, Minn.) racked up a career-high 19 kills in the Cardinals' 3-2 loss to Marian on Sept. 11.
• DOUBLING UP: Schmidt picked up her team-leading seventh double-double of the season against Macalester Friday, dishing out 34 assists and adding 12 digs. McNally, meanwhile, posted her sixth double-double of the year against the Scots, finishing with 22 kills and 14 assists. … Clem posted career-highs in both assists (30) and digs (10) en route to her first collegiate double-double against Carleton on Sept. 15.
• ON THE ATTACK: McNally has recorded at least 10 kills 15 times this season — including five matches of 20 of more kills — and enters Saturday's match against Bethel with a team-best 297 kills. Ruetten and Faith Van Erp (Sartell, Minn.) are second on the team with 158 kills each, followed by Elise Amerongen (Lake Elmo, Minn.) with 109.
• GIVING AN ASSIST: Schmidt and Clem have shared the setting duties this season. Schmidt owns a team-leading 513 helpers, while Clem has tallied 231. … With her 34 assists vs. Macalester Friday, Schmidt has posted five matches with 30 or more assists, while recording at least 20 helpers in a match 14 times.
• DIGGING IT: Baab has led the team in digs in 19 of SMU's 24 matches — including a season-high 29-dig effort in SMU's 3-1 win over St. Scholastica on Oct. 1. Baab enters Saturday's conference match vs. Bethel leading the team with 355 digs. … Baab has compiled a total of 1,503 career digs, ranking her third all-time.
• SERVING UP ACES: Clem and Schmidt head into SMU's match against Bethel as the team's "ace" servers, each posting 27 aces, respectively, followed by McNally (17), Grace Gilles (Apple Valley, Minn. / 15), Baab (14), and Ruetten (11).
• LEAGUE-LEADERS: McNally's 297 kills and 3.91 kills-per-set rank her No. 2 in the MIAC.
• STREAK SNAPPERS: With their 3-1 win over St. Scholastica on Oct. 1, the Cardinals put an end to their season-high six-match losing streak. SMU's 3-0 loss to Hamline on Oct. 8, meanwhile, put an end to SMU's two-match winning streak.
• GOING.THE DISTANCE: The Cardinals' 3-2 loss to Macalester on Friday was their fourth five-set match of the season. SMU was also extended to a fifth set in beating Carleton and falling to Marian and Carroll. Saint Mary's is 3-9 in three-set matches, while going 3-4 in matches decided in four sets. |
• FOR THE RECORD: The Royals head into Saturday's match against Saint Mary's sporting a near-perfect 7-1 conference record, while owning an 18-4 overall mark.
• LAST NIGHT: The Royals moved within one win of a spot in the MIAC post-season tournament Friday evening, outlasting Augsburg 3-2 in Minneapolis, Minn.
• IN THE POLLS: The Royals enter Saturday's matchup against Saint Mary's ranked No. 23 in the latest AVCA Top 25. Bethel has played four teams that were ranked in the AVCA Top 25 at the time of their meeting, beating No.5 Carthage (3-2) and No. 14 Milikin (3-0), while losing to No. 19 UW-Whitewater (3-1) and No. 20 Northwestern (3-2).
• SITTING ON TOP: With their 3-2 win over Augsburg Friday evening, the Royals remained atop the conference standings, tied with Gustavus and Hamline at 7-1.
• ROLLING ALONG: The Royals' win over Augsburg on Friday pushed their winning streak to five straight. Bethel has won eight of its last nine — the lone exception a 3-0 loss to Gustavus on Oct. 2. Bethel opened the season winning seven of its first eight and 10 of its first 12.
• DOUBLE-DOUBLE-DOUBLE: The Royals head three players record a double-double against Augsburg Friday, led by Allie Fauth with a career-high 19 kills and 16 digs. Hannah Wilhite racked up a career-high 53 assists to go along with 16 digs, while Danielle Friedges added 12 kills and 16 digs.
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• ON THE ATTACK: The Royals head into Saturday's match at Saint Mary's boasting four players who have amassed more than 180 kills — led by Kirstin Cotter, who owns 277 kills and a .289 attack percentage. Emily Rossing (196), Friedges (185), and Fauth (180) have also recorded more than 150 kills through 22 matches. … Cotter posted 26 kills against St. Olaf on Oct. 15 — it's the team's top, single-match performance of the season.
• ON THE ASSIST: Hannah Wilhite has been in a giving mood all season for the Royals, serving up 816 of the Royals' 942 assists. Wilhite has posted at least 20 assists in all 22 matches for BU this season — and owns five matches of 40+ assists. Wilhite posted 50 helpers against UW-Superior on Sept. 18, added a 52-assist night vs. St. Olaf on Oct. 15, and dished out a season-high 53 assists against both Carthage (Sept. 10) and Augsburg (Oct. 22).
• NOW SERVING … ACES: Bethel has six players who have recorded at least 10 service aces, led by Mina Wimmer with 31 and Rylee Forshee with 25. Fauth (21), Friedges (18), Wilhite (17), and Kelsie Sealock (13) have also delivered 10 or more aces.
• ROAD TRIP: The Royals' Saturday match against Saint Mary's is the third of four straight road matches for BU, which is 11-3 on the road this season. Bethel is a near-perfect 6-1 on their home court at Robertson Center.
• PULL OUT THE BROOMS: Thirteen of Bethel's 18 wins this year have been 3-0 sweeps. The Royals also own a pair of four-set victories and three five-setters. On the flip side, BU has been swept once, lost to 3-1 decisions and one on that was extended to a fifth set.
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