NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University and St. Olaf volleyball teams have played their fair share of five-set matches this season — the Cardinals headed into Friday's conference matchup having play six contests extended to a fifth set, while the Oles had played 10 five-setters.
 
Friday's conference affair would not need five sets — it was settled in three.
 
And, unfortunately for the Cardinals, the three-set decision did not end in their favor.
 
Despite a double-double by Cardinal senior Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.), the Oles took control early and the Cardinals never recovered in falling to St. Olaf 3-0 at Skoglund Center.
 
The Cardinals recorded the first point of the match on an ace by Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) but that would be the only time in the opening two sets in which the Cardinals would play with the lead.
 
St. Olaf jumped out to a 12-7 lead and the Cardinals would not get any closer in dropping the first set, 25-19.
 
It was more of the same in the second set, as the Oles rattled off six of the set's first seven points and never looked back, pushing their lead to eight, 17-9 and coasting to a 25-13 victory — and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Cardinals grabbed their second and third leads of the match early in the third set — 1-0 and 4-3 — but from there, it was all St. Olaf, as the Oles used a 10-4 run to push their lead to six, 16-10, and outscored Saint Mary's 9-7 the rest of the way in icing the three-set sweep with a 25-17 victory.
 
Schmidt collected her single-season career-high 11th double-double — posting 12 assists and 13 digs — to lead the way for the Cardinals. McNally delivered nine kills and Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) finished with a team-high 14 digs for SMU.
 
The Cardinals (2-8 MIAC, 9-17 overall) close out their regular-season schedule on Saturday, when they travel to Gustavus' Gus Young Court in St. Peter, Minn., for a 7 p.m. match against the nationally ranked Gusties.
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