LA CROSSE, Wis. — There was something missing for the Saint Mary's University volleyball team in its nonconference "race" against UW-La Crosse: A finishing kick.
 
The Eagles used a big run to close out each of the first two sets, and had just enough left in the tank to out-kick the Cardinals in the third set in dealing Saint Mary's a 3-0 setback Tuesday evening at UW-L's Mitchell Hall.
 
The Eagles recorded the first two points and never trailed in the opening set. Deadlocked at 10-10, UW-La Crosse rattled off nine unanswered points and outscored Saint Mary's 15-3 en route to a 25-13 first set victory.
 
Abbie Stigler (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) recorded a kill for the first point of the second set — and the Cardinals' first lead of the match. Saint Mary's held early, one-point leads three times and led by as many as three twice — but the Cardinals could not hold the Eagles at bay. Tied 13-13, UW-L used a 6-2 burst to push its lead to four, 19-15. SMU whittled the advantage to one, 19-18, only to have the Eagles end the set on a 6-1 run to seal the 25-19 victory.
 
UW-La Crosse opened the third set in much the same fashion as the first, recording the first three points and never relinquishing the lead. Trailing by as many as five on five separate occasions, Saint Mary's tried to use a set-ending burst of its own to keep the set — and the match, alive — but could get no closer than two, before surrendering the final two points of the set in a 25-21 UW-L victory.
 
Stigler finished with a team-high nine kills for the Cardinals, while Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) dished out a team-leading 10 assists and Hannah Herrem () collected a team-best 10 digs.
 
The Cardinals (9-16 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this weekend with a pair of road matches to close out the regular season. SMU will head to Northfield, Minn., for a 7 p.m. match against St. Olaf on Friday, before moving on to St. Peter, Minn., for another 7 p.m. contest the following evening.
 
 
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