SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2022: 2-4 MIAC, 9-12 Overall

CONCORDIA COBBERS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2022: 2-4 MIAC, 5-13 Overall

LIVE ON THE WEB:

Live Stats * Streaming Video

SMU-CON * A YEAR AGO:

Oct. 16, 2021 * Moorhead, MN

L, 3-1 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Oct. 14, 2022 * Winona, MN

Saint Benedict * L, 3-2

CONCORDIA * LAST ACTION:

Oct. 14, 2022 * Northfield, MN

Carleton * L, 3-0

SAINT MARY’S UP NEXT: 

Oct. 19, 2022 * St. Paul, MN

Macalester * 7:00

CONCORDIA UP NEXT: 

Oct. 18, 2022 * St. Bonifacius, MN

Crown * 7:00

SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference matches against Concordia sitting at 9-12 overall, including 2-4 in conference play.

• LAST ACTION: Saint Mary’s had three players record double-doubles, but it was not quite enough, as Saint Benedict outlasted the Cardinals 15-13 in the fifth set in dealing SMU a 3-2 conference setback Friday evening at the SMU Gym.

• SENIOR SENDOFF: The Cardinals honored their four graduating seniors — Elise Amerongen (Lake Elmo, Minn.), Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.), Larkin Clem (Elk River, Minn.), and Braidyn Ruetten (Holmen, Wis.) — prior to Friday’s conference matchup against Saint Benedict. Saturday’s showdown with Concordia will be the final regular-season home game for the quartet.

• SWEEPING UP: Six of Saint Mary’s nine wins this season have been 3-0 sweeps, with the other three wins coming in four sets. On the flip side, the Cardinals have been swept four times, while falling twice in four sets and dropping all six five-set matches.

• HOME SWEET HOME: The Cardinals, who played 16 of their first 18 matches on the road, are playing their fourth straight home match Saturday vs. Concordia. SMU will then close out the regular-season schedule with road contests at Macalester (Wednesday), Bethel (Saturday), UW-La Crosse (Oct. 25), St. Olaf (Oct. 28), and Gustavus (Oct. 29).

• ON THE ATTACK: McNally heads into Saturday’s matchup vs. Concordia leading the team with 285 kills, followed by Abbie Stigler (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) with 246. Ruetten is third on the team with 147 kills, while Amerongen, Faith VanErp (Sartell, Minn.), and Brenna Bruchert (Eau Claire, Wis.) are sitting at 76, 72, and 69 kills, respectively.

• DOUBLE DIGITS: McNally delivered a single-match season-high 28 kills against Grinnell on Sept. 2, and has recorded 10 or more kills 37 times in her collegiate career — including nine matches of 20 or more kills.

• CAREER BESTS: The Cardinals have had two players post career-highs of 10 or more kills this season. Stigler has recorded a career-best 21 kills twice — first against Webster on Sept. 16 and then again against Hamline on Oct. 7, while Bruchert posted 16 kills in the Cardinals’ 3-1 win over Ripon on Sept. 23. … SMU boasts four players who have recorded career-highs of 10 or more digs this season — Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) put up a career-best 32 digs vs. Saint Benedict on Friday; McNally delivered a career-high 20 digs against Grinnell on Sept. 17; Stigler notched a career-high 19 digs vs. Ripon on Sept. 23, and Clem recorded a career-best 15 digs vs. Buena Vista on Wednesday.

• GIVING AN ASSIST: Schmidt and Clem have shared the setting duties this season, with Schmidt owning a team-high 373 assists, followed closely by Clem with 339. … Schmidt has recorded at least 20 assists in a match eight times this season — including a season-high 31 against Knox on Sept. 17 — and has delivered 20 or more helpers 24 times over the past two seasons. … Clem, who led the team with 27 assists vs. CSB Friday, has eclipsed the 20-assist mark seven times this season.

• JOINING THE CLUB: With her third assist against Marian on Sept. 10, Schmidt became the 13th player in program history to reach 1,000 career assists. Schmidt enters Saturday’s match against Concordia with 1,282 helpers, ranking her 11th all-time. Rachel Monterastelli ’10 is next up on the all-time assist list, sitting in 10th at 1,471.

• DOUBLING UP: McNally picked up her 13th double-double of the season against Saint Benedict Friday night, posting 25 kills and 11 digs, while Stigler and Schmidt also had double-doubles against the Bennies — Stigler collecting her sixth double-double with 17 kills and 14 digs, and Schmidt notching double-double No. 8 with 24 assists and 10 digs. … SMU has now had three players record double-doubles in the same match twice this season — also achieving the feat against Luther on Oct. 5.

• DIGGING IT: Berg enters Saturday’s matchup against Concordia owning a team-high 346 digs, and has collected 10 or more digs in 11 straight matches — and in 17 of the Cardinals’ 21 contests this season. … McNally is currently second on the team with 247 digs, followed by Schmidt with 179, Stigler with 159, and Clem with 123.

• SERVING UP ACES: Along with her team-leading 346 digs, Berg also leads the team with 41 service aces. VanErp is second with 26, followed by Clem with 24. … As a team, Saint Mary’s owns 151 aces through 21 matches.

• AT THE HELM: The 2021 season is the first at the helm for Cardinal coach Amber Zitzow — who picked up her first Saint Mary’s victory with a 3-0 win over Marian on Sept. 2. Zitzow spent the 2021 season as an assistant coach at UM-Morris, after serving 12 seasons at Rochester Community Technical College (RCTC), the first four as an assistant coach and the last eight as the Yellowjackets’ head coach.

CONCORDIA COBBERS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cobbers head into their second conference match of the weekend sitting at 5-13 overall, including 2-4 through their first five MIAC contests.

• LAST TIME OUT: Concordia got off to a slow start and never recovered on the road against Carleton Friday night in Northfield, Minn. The Knights opened with a convincing 25-16 win in the opening set and followed that up with back-to-back 25-22 victories in dropping the Cobbers 3-0.

• STREAKING: Friday’s loss to Carleton snapped Concordia’s two-match winning streak. CC has now won four of its last six — the lone blemishes a 3-1 setback at the hands of St. Scholastica on Oct. 7 and Friday’s 3-0 loss to Carleton.

• ROAD WARRIORS: Saturday’s match against Saint Mary’s is the second of three straight road contests for the Cobbers, who close out their regular-season schedule playing three of their final four matches on their home court. CC owns a 2-3 record at home, while going 3-9 away from Memorial Auditorium.

• ON THE ATTACK: The Cobbers boast four players who have amassed 100 or more kills through 18 matches. Anna Brakke leads the way with 174 kills, followed by Kendra Wiggs with 147, Hannah Keil with 133, and Brook Carney with 132. … Brakke has posted 10 or more kills in a match 10 times — including four of CC’s last five contests.

• GIVING AN ASSIST: Kaia Lill has been an assist machine for CC, collecting 607 of the team’s 705 assists. … Lill has dished out 20 or more helpers in all 18 matches this season, and owns seven matches with 40 or more assists. … Lill recorded 50 assists against Mayville State on Sept. 27 and delivered a season-high 51 assists against Presentation on Sept. 6.

• DIGGING IT: Chloe Markovic owns a team-leading 327 digs this season and is one of five Cobbers who have eclipsed the 100-dig plateau. Brakke is second to Markovic with 219 digs, followed by Karlie Goschen (175), Lill (150), and Hanna Mooney (146). … Markovic picked up a season-high 31 digs against Bethany Lutheran on Sept. 2, and has posted at least 10 digs in 16 of the team’s 17 contests.

• SERVING UP ACES: Concordia has picked up 107 service aces this season, led by Mooney with 25. Goschen (23) and Lill (21) have also delivered more than 20 aces this season.

• BY THE NUMBERS: Concordia has recorded three, four-set wins this season, with its other two victories coming in five sets. On the flip side, the Cobbers have been swept in eight of their 13 losses, while falling in four sets three times and dropping a pair of five-setters. … CC has won the first set in six of its 17 matches.