ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team found itself play a match-long game of catch-up Saturday afternoon against Bethel.
And against a high-powered offense like the Royals possessed, it was a chase the Cardinals could not win.
Despite a double-double by
Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) and double-digit kill performances from
Abbie Stigler (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) and
Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.), the Cardinals could not keep pace with the host Royals, falling to Bethel 3-0 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup at Robertson Center Gym.
Bethel grabbed the upper hand early in the opening set, racing out to a 15-8 lead and cruising to a 25-21 victory.
The first of back-to-back 25-21 triumphs.
Saint Mary's wrested the momentum away early in the second set, leading 9-7 and 12-10, but the Royals would regain control, rattling off five of the set's final seven points to 25-21 victory No. 2.
Trailing 2-0, the Cardinals struggled to find any traction in the third set, as Bethel rattled off the first four points of the set and never relinquished the lead. SMU would get as close as three, 10-7, but could not keep pace with the Royals, as BU completed the sweep by recording seven of the final 10 points to claim the 25-15 victory.
Schmidt delivered team highs in both assists (18) and digs (17) en route to her 10th double-double of the season for the Cardinals, while Stigler recorded a team-high 15 kills, four more than McNally.
Larkin Clem (Elk River, Minn.) chipped in 15 assists and
Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) finished with 14 digs.
The Cardinals (2-7 MIAC, 9-15 overall) are back in action — and back on the road — on Tuesday, when they travel to La Crosse, Wis., when they take on UW-La Crosse at 7 p.m. in their final nonconference contest of the season.
