SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2022: 2-8 MIAC, 9-17 Overall

GUSTAVUS GUSTIES

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2022: 10-0 MIAC, 22-4 Overall

LIVE ON THE WEB:

Live Stats * Streaming Video

SMU-GAC * A YEAR AGO:

Oct. 30, 2021 * Winona, MN

L, 3-0 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Oct. 28, 2022 * Northfield, MN

St. Olaf * L, 3-0

GUSTAVUS * LAST ACTION:

Oct. 28, 2022 * Duluth, MN

St. Scholastica * W, 3-0

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT: 

End of Regular Season

GUSTAVUS * UP NEXT: 

Nov. 3, 2022 * St. Peter, MN

MIAC Playoffs * vs. TBA

SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference match against Gustavus sitting at 9-17 overall, including a 2-8 showing in 10 conference play.

• LAST ACTION: Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) collected a double-double of 12 assists and 13 digs, but it was not enough to carry the Cardinals against St. Olaf Friday evening, as the Oles dealt the Cardinals a 3-0 setback in Northfield, Minn.

• 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 eight times, while falling three times in four sets and dropping all six five-set matches.

• END OF THE ROAD: Saturday’s match at Gustavus is the fifth consecutive road contest to close out the Cardinals’ regular-season schedule. SMU finished 1-5 in home matches this season, while sitting at 8-12 in road matches.

• ON THE ATTACK: Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) heads into Saturday’s showdown at Gustavus leading the team with 338 kills, followed by Abbie Stigler (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) with 304. Braidyn Ruetten (Holmen, Wis.) is third on the team with 168 kills, while Elise Amerongen (Lake Elmo, Minn.), Faith VanErp (Sartell, Minn.), and Brenna Bruchert (Eau Claire, Wis.) are sitting at 90, 86, and 77 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 40 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 five 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 Oct. 14; 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 Larkin Clem (Elk River, Minn.) and Hannah Herrem () have both recorded a career-best 15 digs — Clem vs. Buena Vista on Oct 12 and Herrem vs. Knox on Sept. 17

• GIVING AN ASSIST: Schmidt and Larkin Clem (Elk River, Minn.) have shared the setting duties this season, with Schmidt owning a team-high 454 assists, followed closely by Clem with 400. … Schmidt has recorded at least 20 assists in a match nine times this season — including a season-high 31 against Knox on Sept. 17 — and has delivered 20 or more helpers 25 times over the past two seasons. … Clem 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 at Gustavus with 1,363 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: Schmidt recorded her 11th double-double of the season with 12 assists and 13 digs against St. Olaf on Friday. … McNally picked up her 14th double-double of the season against Macalester on Oct. 19, posting 14 kills and 12 digs, while Stigler and Schmidt also had double-doubles against the Scots — marking the third time this season SMU has had three players record double-doubles in the same match.

• DIGGING IT: Berg enters Saturday’s matchup against Gustavus owning a team-high 428 digs, and has collected 10 or more digs in 15 of the team’s last 16 matches — and in 21 of the Cardinals’ 26 contests this season. … McNally is currently second on the team with 277 digs, followed by Schmidt with 232, Stigler with 202, and Clem with 153.

• SERVING UP ACES: Along with her team-leading 428 digs, Berg also leads the team with 43 service aces. VanErp is second with 33, followed by Clem with 25 and McNally with 23. … As a team, Saint Mary’s owns 171 aces through 25 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.

GUSTAVUS GUSTIES SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Gusties head into their regular-season finale against Saint Mary’s sitting at 22-4 overall — including a perfect 10-0 mark in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Gusties maintained its perfect conference record, easing to a 3-0 win over St. Scholastica Friday evening in Duluth, Minn.

• POST-SEASON BOUND: Gustavus has already locked up the MIAC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs. The Gusties will host a playoff semifinal on Nov. 3, facing the lowest remaining seed in the six-team tournament.

• STREAKING: The Gusties head into Saturday’s showdown against Saint Mary’s red-hot, having won 12 straight. GAC has not lost since dropping back-to-back decisions to Wartburg (3-0) and Coe (3-1) on Sept. 24. Gustavus’ other two losses also came in back-to-back matches, falling to Northwestern (3-0) on Sept. 13 and UW-Stevens Point (3-1) three days later. … GAC’s 3-0 loss to Northwestern on Sept. 13 snapped Gustavus’ season-opening seven-match winning streak. 

• IN THE POLLS: The Gusties are currently ranked No. 15 in the latest AVCA Top 25. GAC has been nationally ranked every week this season, climbing as high as No. 8.

• ROAD WARRIORS: Friday’s victory over St. Scholastica was the Gusties’ third straight road match. All four of Gustavus’ losses this season have been on the road. GAC owns a 16-4 record on the road this season, while sporting a perfect 6-0 mark at Gus Young Court in St. Peter, Minn.

• ON THE ATTACK: The Gusties sport six players who have eclipsed the 100-kill mark, including two — Marlee Turn and Sarah Elliott — who have delivered more than 250 kills. Turn leads GAC with 331 kills, while Elliott is second with 262. Lauren Klaith (193), Courtney Peterson (133), Sydney Olson (118), and Madi Kes (102) are also members of GAC’s 100-kill club. … Turn’s 344 kills and 3.87 kills-per-set are tops in the MIAC.

• GIVING AN ASSIST: Kasie Tweet has dished out a whopping 845 assists this season, accounting for all but 248 of the team’s 1098 helpers through 26 matches. … Tweet is sitting second in the conference in assists, less than 10 back of Saint Benedict’s Audrey Spolidoro.

• DIGGING IT: Maren Sundberg leads the Gusties with 477 digs and is one of four GAC players with 150 or more digs, being joined by Turn (276), Tweet (250), and Brynn Smith (153).

• SERVING UP ACES: GAC has collected 147 aces this season, led by Tweet with 34, Sundberg with 26, and Turn with 21. Nine Gusties have recorded at least one ace this season.

• BY THE NUMBERS: Fourteen of Gustavus’ 22 wins have been 3-0 sweeps. GAC also owns seven four-set victories and won its lone five-set match. On the flip side, Gustavus has been swept twice and lost a pair of four-set affairs. … Gustavus has won the first set in 21 of its 26 matches.