MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Saint Mary's University volleyball coach Jackie Kiecker knew her Cardinals were in for a real knock-down, drag-out fight-to-the-finish in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown with Augsburg.
 
After all, the Auggies were coming into Wednesday's matchup riding a four-match winning streak — and were among those receiving votes in the latest AVCA Top 25 Poll.
 
In other words, Augsburg was good — very good.
 
And the Auggies lived up to that lofty reputation, using late-match bursts in the first two sets and a 12-3 outburst to open the third and cruised to a 3-0 conference win over the Cardinals at Si Melby Hall.
 
The Cardinals came out swinging from the opening serve, scoring seven of the first eight points for an early 7-1 lead in Set 1. Augsburg clawed its way back, evening the score at 13-13. The set would be tied five more times, before Augsburg grabbed a 20-18 advantage. SMU knotted the set once again at 20-20, only to have the Auggies rattle off five unanswered points to seal the 25-20, Set 1 victory.
 
Augsburg took a page out of Saint Mary's playbook in the second set, rattling off four straight points to open a quick, 4-0 lead. The Cardinals answered with four consecutive points for a 4-4 tie, only to have the Auggies score seven consecutive points for an 11-4 cushion. The Cardinals cut the deficit to three, 11-8, but could get no closer, and Augsburg iced the set by scoring five of the final eight points for a 25-18 victory.
 
Augsburg did not wait for a late run to seal the win in the third set, recording 12 of the first 15 points for a commanding 12-3 cushion — and the Cardinals could not get any closer than six the rest of the way in falling in Set 3, 25-14.
 
Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) led the Cardinals with 10 kills, while Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) delivered 28 assists and DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.) chipped in 10 digs.
 
The Cardinals (1-1 MIAC, 5-8 overall) are back in action this weekend, heading to Whitewater, Wis., to take part in the UW-Whitewater Invitational. Saint Mary's will face Concordia (Wis.) and Carroll on Friday, before facing UW-Whitewater and Carthage the following day.