WINONA, Minn. — It was a match of runs for the Saint Mary's University volleyball team Saturday evening in its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against St. Catherine.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Wildcats' runs proved to be far greater than theirs.
 
St. Catherine strung together extended offensive outbursts in all three sets — including a 4-0 burst in the first set, a 6-0 run in the second, and 8-0 streak in the third – as the Wildcats dealt the Cardinals their second straight 3-0 conference loss Saturday at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Neither team could grab the upper hand early in the first set, with the teams battled to seven ties, the last at 8-8. St. Catherine rattled off four unanswered points for a 12-8 advantage, and never relinquished the advantage — building leads as big as six, before settling for a 25-22 victory.
 
With the score deadlocked at 3-3 in the second set, St. Catherine turned up the offensive heat, delivering six unanswered points for a 9-3 advantage. SCU would push that lead to as many as 11 on two separate occasions, before holding off a late Saint Mary's charge for a 25-16 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The third set was a mirror image of the second, as St. Catherine pulled away from a 5-5 dead lock, rattling off eight unanswered points as part of a 10-1 run that gave the Wildcats a commanding 16-6 lead. Trailing by nine, 22-13, the Cardinals put together an 8-2 run to whittle the lead to three, 24-21, but that was as close as SMU would get, as the Wildcats earned trhe set's final point to complete
 
Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) recorded a double-double of 11 kills and 11 digs to lead the way for the Cardinals, while Abbie Stigler (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) chipped in eight kills. Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) dished out 10 assists, one more than Larkin Clem (Elk River, Minn.), while Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) finished with 11 digs.
 
The Cardinals (0-3 MIAC, 7-9 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, when they travel to Decorah, Iowa, for a 7 p.m. nonconference match against Luther.
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