DECORAH, Iowa — Thanks to a split in the first two sets, the Saint Mary's University volleyball team was guaranteed of one thing Wednesday evening — the match would not be a third straight, three-set sweep.
 
In fact, the Cardinals' nonconference matchup against Luther would need the maximum five sets.
 
Unfortunately, like the previous two three-set matches, the end results on Wednesday did not favor the Cardinals, as Luther rallied from a 2-1 deficit — including a 15-10 win in the fifth and final set — to deal Saint Mary's a 3-2 setback.
 
It haunted the Cardinals against St. Catherine last Saturday, and it haunted them again in the opening set against Luther — an extended run the opposition. In a set that Luther led for virtually the entire way — except for a lone, 15-14 SMU advantage — the Norse rattled off five of the final six points in sealing a 25-19 victory.
 
The opening-set loss did not seem to faze the Cardinals, who answered with a wire-to-wire victory in the second set. Saint Mary's collected the first point of the set, and never relinquished the advantage — building leads as big as four on three separate occasions, before settling for a three-point, 25-22 victory.
 
The Cardinals got off to a sluggish start in the third set, surrendering the set's first three points, and staring at an early, 12-8 deficit. Fourteen points later, that four-point deficit had ballooned into an eight-point lead, as the Cardinals used a 13-1 run to take complete control, 21-13, en route to a 25-20 win — and a 2-1 lead.
 
The fourth set boasted nine ties through the first 26 points — the ninth deadlock knotting the teams at 13-13. Luther appeared to take complete control, scoring eight of the next 10 points for a commanding 21-15 lead. The Cardinals promptly answered with an 8-2 run of their own to knot the set at 23-23, only to have the Norse record the final two points for the 25-23 win — forcing a winner-take-all fifth set.
 
Saint Mary's once again fell behind early in the fifth set, as Luther grabbed four-point leads of 9-5, 10-6, and 11-7, only to have SMU whittle the lead to two, 11-9. That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as Luther recorded four of the final seven points for the 15-10 victory.
 
Abbie Stigler (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) led the way for the Cardinals, posting a double-double of 19 kills and 11 digs, while Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) chipped in a double-double of her own with 10 kills and 16 digs. Not to be left of out the Cardinals double-double parade, Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) posted 24 assists and 19 digs, while Larkin Clem (Elk River, Minn.) chipped in 15 assists and Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) delivered a team-high 28 digs.
 
The Cardinals (7-9 overall) are back in conference play this weekend, heading to St. Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. MIAC matchup against Hamline on Friday, before returning home to the SMU Gym for a 7 p.m. showdown against Carleton the following evening.
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