SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2022: 2-5 MIAC, 9-13 Overall

MACALESTER SCOTS

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2022: 3-4 MIAC, 13-9 Overall

LIVE ON THE WEB:

Live Stats * Streaming Video

SMU-MAC * A YEAR AGO:

Oct. 22, 2021 * Winona, MN

L, 3-2 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Oct. 15, 2022 * Winona, MN

Concordia * L, 3-0

MACALESTER * LAST ACTION:

Oct. 15, 2022 * Duluth, MN

St. Scholastica * L, 3-1

SAINT MARY’S UP NEXT: 

Oct. 22, 2022 * Arden Hills, MN

Bethel * 7:00

MACALESTER UP NEXT: 

Oct. 22, 2022 * St. Paul, MN

Hamline * 3:00 | UW-EC * 5:00

SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference match against Macalester sitting at 9-13 overall, including 2-5 in seven conference play.

• LAST ACTION: The Cardinals got double-double performances from Abbie Stigler (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) and Larkin Clem (Elk River, Minn.), but it was not enough, as SMU dropped a 3-0 decision to Concordia last Saturday at the Saint Mary’s Gym.

• 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 five times, while falling twice in four sets and dropping all six five-set matches — including last Friday’s 3-2 loss to Saint Benedict.

• END OF THE ROAD: The Cardinals, who played their last four matches on their home court, close out their regular-season schedule with five consecutive road contests — at Macalester (Wednesday), Bethel (Saturday), UW-La Crosse (Oct. 25), St. Olaf (Oct. 28), and Gustavus (Oct. 29). … SMU finished 1-5 in home matches this season, while sitting at 8-8 in road matches.

• ON THE ATTACK: Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) heads into Wednesday’s matchup vs. Macalester leading the team with 297 kills, followed by Stigler with 258. Braidyn Ruetten (Holmen, Wis.) is third on the team with 152 kills, while Elise Amerongen (Lake Elmo, Minn.), Faith VanErp (Sartell, Minn.), and Brenna Bruchert (Eau Claire, Wis.) are sitting at 81, 75, 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 38 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 last 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 Oct 12.

• GIVING AN ASSIST: Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) and Clem have shared the setting duties this season, with Schmidt owning a team-high 392 assists, followed closely by Clem with 354. … 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 a season-high 27 assists vs. Saint Benedict last 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 Wednesday’s match against Macalester with 1,301 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 last 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. Stigler (12 kills, 12 digs) and Clem (15 assists, 10 digs) posted double-doubles against Concordia the following afternoon. … 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 Wednesday’s matchup against Macalester owning a team-high 366 digs, and has collected 10 or more digs in 12 straight matches — and in 18 of the Cardinals’ 22 contests this season. … McNally is currently second on the team with 255 digs, followed by Schmidt with 186, Stigler with 171, and Clem with 133.

• SERVING UP ACES: Along with her team-leading 366 digs, Berg also leads the team with 41 service aces. VanErp is second with 27, followed by Clem with 24. … As a team, Saint Mary’s owns 154 aces through 22 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.

MACALESTER SCOTS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Scots enter Wednesday’s home showdown against Saint Mary’s boasting a 13-9 overall record, including a 3-4 mark in seven MIAC contests.

• LAST TIME OUT: St. Scholastica held Macalester to just nine points in a decisive third set, as the Saints broke away from a 1-1 tie with back-to-back set wins in dealing Macalester a 3-1 setback last Saturday in Duluth, Minn.

• STREAKING: With last Saturday’s 3-1 loss to St. Scholastica, Macalester has slipped to 1-4 in its last five matches — the lone win, a thrilling 3-2 victory over No. 18 Augsburg last Friday. … On the flip side, Macalester owns winning streaks of three and four matches, while also posting back-to-back victories twice. 

• HOME SWEET HOME: With Wednesday’s match against Saint Mary’s, Macalester will play three of their final five matches on their home court. The Scots will travel to Hamline for matches against the Pipers and UW-Eau Claire on Saturday, before hosting Bethel and St. Catherine on Oct. 28 and 29. … Macalester is 4-3 on its home court, while going 9-6 away from Leonard Center.

• ON THE ATTACK: The Scots boast five players who have recorded more than 100 kills, led by Eliza King with 194. Adisa Preston (170), Stephanie Geber (161), Gwen Wooten (126), and Avery Rahe (118) have also eclipsed the 100-kill mark. … King has collected 10 or more kills 10 times this season, while Preston owns the team’s single-match season-high with 16 kills against Wentworth on Sept. 17.

• GIVING AN ASSIST: Maya Mortenson and Nicole Norton have shared the setting duties for the Scots this season, with Mortenson dishing out 442 helpers, while Norton owns 276. … Mortenson has recorded 10 or more assists in every match this season and has a pair of 40+ assist efforts — tallying 41 assists vs. Carleton on Oct. 1 and a season-high 43 against Stevens on Sept. 17. 

• DIGGING IT: Torrance Williams has recorded a team-leading 308 digs, followed close behind by King with 284. Mortenson (145), Norton (109), and Sarah Bohrer (100) have also collected 100 or more digs this season. … Williams has amassed 10 or more digs in 20 of the team’s 22 matches — including three matches of 20 or more digs. Williams notched 20 digs against both UW-Superior and Stevens, and posted a season-high 21 digs against Carleton on Oct. 1.

• DOUBLING UP: Macalester has had a player record a double-double 16 times this season. King owns nine kill-dig double-doubles, while Mortenson has recorded six assist-dig double-doubles and Norton has one assist-dig double-double. 

• SERVING UP ACES: The Scots have served up 161 aces through 22 matches and has eight players who have recorded at least 10 aces. … King is the team’s ace leader with 32, followed by Bohrer (27), Williams (21), Rahe (20), Mortenson (18), Jill MacInnis (14), Norton (11), and Katrina Schoen (11). 

• BY THE NUMBERS: Macalester has picked up four three-set wins this season, while also winning five times in four sets and adding four five-set victories. On the flip side, the Scots have been swept four times, lost four four-setters, and have fallen in five sets once. … Macalester has dropped the first set in eight of its nine losses this season. The Scots have won the first set in nine of their 13 victories.