NORTHFIELD, Minn. — If the Saint Mary's University and Carleton volleyball teams proved anything during their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match Wednesday evening, it was that no lead was safe.
 
No matter how big, or how small.
 
Both teams used big, set-ending runs to split the first two sets, and both controlled the momentum in the third and fourth sets to force a winner-take-all fifth set.
 
And Saint Mary's saved its best run for last, as the Cardinals rattl4ed off 13 of the final 15 points in beat Carleton 15-6 and earned a conference-opening 3-2 win over the Knights at West Gym.
 
As impressive as the Cardinals were as a whole against the Knights — especially in the fifth set — it paled in comparison to the performance of SMU sophomore Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.)
 
McNally set a single-match, program-record with 32 kills — including notching back-to-back-to-back-to-back kills to end the fifth and decisive match. The 32 kill effort is one more than the previous program-best of 31, set by Brandi Blattner against Bethel on Oct. 21, 2016.
 
Carleton kicked off the "night of runs" by closing out the first set winning 10 of the final 12 points en route to a 25-20 win. Saint Mary's turned the tables in the second set, using a 7-1 set-ending burst for a 25-22 win — and a 1-1 deadlock.
 
The momentum — and the clutch rallies — shifted back to Carleton in the third set, as the Knights rallied from a 19-15 deficit to take a 23-21 lead and overcame 23-23 and 24-24 deadlocks by rattling off three unanswered points for a 27-25 victory.
 
Fueled by a 6-1 burst that gave SMU a 10-6 lead, the Cardinals led by as many as five on two occasions in the fourth set, and forced the fifth and final set with a 25-21 triumph.
 
And Saint Mary's left no doubt in Set 5 — thanks to McNally.
 
Trailing 4-2, Saint Mary's pulled even at 4-4 and led 7-6, before rattling off eight consecutive points for the 15-6, match-clinching victory.
 
McNally recorded her school-record 32 kills on 73 attempts and hit .288, while adding 12 digs for her third double-double of the season. Braidyn Ruetten (Holmen, Wis.) chipped in a career-best 15 kills and Faith Van Erp (Sartell, Minn.) added 12.
 
Larkin Clem (Elk River, Minn.) and Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) shared the setting duties for the Cardinals, with Clem dishing out 30 assists and Schmidt finishing with 28. Clem added 10 digs for her first collegiate double-double,while Hannah Skroch (Savage, Minn.) was the Cardinals' dig-leader against the Knights with 13.
The Cardinals (1-0 MIAC, 4-5 overall) are back in action this weekend, heading to Dubuque, Iowa, for three nonconference matches. Saint Mary's will face Westminster (Mo.) and the University of Dubuque on Friday, before taking on Loras the following morning.