SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS
Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule
2022: 7-9 Overall
LUTHER NORSE
Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule
2022: 4-13 Overall
LIVE ON THE WEB:
Live Stats * Streaming Video
SMU-LUTHER * A YEAR AGO:
Sept. 3, 2021 * Decorah, IA
W 3-0 * Series History
SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:
Oct. 1, 2022 * Winona, MN
St. Catherine * L, 3-0
LUTHER * LAST ACTION:
Oct. 1, 2022 * Northfield, MN
Macalester * L, 3-0 | Carleton, L, 3-1
SAINT MARY’S UP NEXT:
Oct. 7, 2022 * St. Paul, MN
Hamline * 7:00
LUTHER UP NEXT:
Oct. 7, 2022 * St. Louis, MO
Washington (Mo.) U. * 4:45
Oct. 8, 2022 * St. Louis, MO
UW-La Crosse * Noon
Illinois Wesleyan * 2:00
SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into Wednesday’s nonconference matchup at Luther sitting at 7-9 overall, including 0-3 in conference play.
• LAST ACTION: Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) delivered a double-double of 11 kills and 11 digs, but the Cardinals could not slow down St. Catherine, as the Wildcats rolled to a 3-0 MIAC victory over SMU Saturday at the Saint Mary’s Gym.
• SWEEPING UP: Four of Saint Mary’s seven wins have been 3-0 sweeps, with the other three wins coming in four sets. On the flip side, the Cardinals have been swept four times — including each of their last two matches — while also dropping four, five-set matches and one four-setter.
• ROAD WARRIORS: Saturday’s match against St. Catherine was just the second home match of the season for the Cardinals, who play 16 of their first 18 contests on the road. Wednesday’s match at Luther is the first of back-to-back road contests for the Cardinals, who will then play four straight at home, beginning next Wednesday against Buena Vista.
• ON THE ATTACK: McNally heads into Wednesday’s matchup at Luther leading the team with 211 kills, followed by Abbie Stigler (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) with 160. Braidyn Ruetten (Holmen, Wis.) is third on the team with 99 kills, while Brenna Bruchert (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Elise Amerongen (Lake Elmo, Minn.) are sitting at 69 and 59 kills, respectively.
• DOUBLE DIGITS: McNally delivered a single-match season-high 28 kills against Grinnell on Sept. 2, and has now recorded 10 or more kills 33 times in her collegiate career — including seven 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 recorded a career-best 21 kills against Webster on Sept. 16, while Bruchert posted 16 kills in the Cardinals’ 3-1 win over Ripon on Sept. 23. … Stigler posted a career-high 19 digs against Ripon on Sept. 23, and McNally notched a career-high 20 digs against Grinnell on Sept. 17, while Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) put up a career-best 25 digs vs. Grinnell on Sept. 2.
• GIVING AN ASSIST: Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) and Larkin Clem (Elk River, Minn.) have shared the setting duties this season, with Schmidt owning a team-high 270 assists, followed closely by Clem with 246. … Schmidt has recorded at least 20 assists in a match six times this season — including a season-high 31 against Knox on Sept. 17 — and has delivered 20 or more helpers 20 times over the past two seasons. … Clem has posted 20 or more assists in each of SMU’s last four matches.
• 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 Wednesday’s match with 1,179 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: McNally picked up two double-doubles in three matches at the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational on Sept. 23-24, pushing her team-leading total to nine. Schmidt — who led the team with seven double-doubles last season — has five double-doubles this season, while Stigler owns three and Clem has two. … Clem posted her first double-double of the season with 16 assists and 12 digs v. Marian on Sept. 10, and Stigler recorded her first collegiate double-double with 21 kills and 16 digs — both career-highs — against Webster on Sept. 16.
• DIGGING IT: Payton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) heads into Wednesday’s matchup against Luther owning a team-high 241 digs, and has collected 10 or more digs in 12 of the Cardinals’ 16 matches this season. … McNally is currently second on the team with 184 digs, followed by Schmidt with 126, Stigler with 104, and Clem with 81.
• SERVING UP ACES: Along with her team-leading 241 digs, Berg also leads the team with 33 service aces. Clem is second on the team with 21 aces, followed by Faith VanErp (Sartell, Minn.) with 20. … As a team, Saint Mary’s owns 126 aces through 16 matches.
• AS A TEAM: The Cardinals have recorded 665 kills, 597 assists, 126 aces, and 975 digs through 16 matches. … SMU has posted a season-high 56 kills three times this season, and has posted 50 or more kills in a match five times. … Saint Mary’s boasts two matches with a season-high 50 assists and recorded a single-match season-high 92 digs against Ripon on Sept. 23.
• 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.
LUTHER NORSE SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Norse enter Wednesday’s nonconference match against Saint Mary’s sitting at 4-13 overall, including an 0-3 mark in American Rivers Conference action.
• LAST TIME OUT: Luther dropped both its matches at the Cardinals Triangular last Saturday, falling to Macalester 3-0 and Carleton 3-1.
• STREAKING: With their back-to-back losses to Macalester and Carleton last Saturday, Luther saw its losing streak climb to four straight. The Norse have won just once in their last 11 matches.
• ROAD WARRIORS: Wednesday’s showdown against Saint Mary’s is just the fourth home match of the season for the Norse, who have played 13 of their first 17 contests away from Regents Center Gym. Luther is 1-2 at home, while going 3-11 on the road — including 2-5 in neutral-site matches.
• MIAC FOES: Saint Mary’s is the fifth and final match against an opponent from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Luther has already faced Macalester twice, falling 3-1 and 3-0, while also dropping 3-1 decisions to Augsburg and Carleton.
• ON THE ATTACK: The Norse boast four players who have accumulated 100 or more kills through 17 matches, led by Sarina Stortz with 137 and Emily Hagen with 132. Brianna Highum (120) and Hannah LeBonte (104) have also eclipsed the 100-kill mark. … Stortz, Hagen, Highum, and LeBonte have accounted for 493 of the team’s 645 kills. … Highum owns the team’s single-match season-high with 18 kills against MBU-WV on Sept. 10.
• GIVING AN ASSIST: Emma Kowalczyk has been an assist machine for the Norse, dishing out 470 helpers this season — and has delivered at least 10 assists in 16 of the team’s 17 contests. … Kowalczyk posted a season-high 42 assists against MBU-WV on Sept. 10.
• DIGGING IT: Kyah Olson-Sola leads the Norse with 264 digs, while Kassandra Keller (178), Kowalczyk (126), Kaitlyn Dailey (123), and Gabbie Schei (115) have also recorded more than 100 digs this season. …
• DOUBLING UP: Luther has had a player record a double-double five times — with Kowalczyk and Hagen accounting for all five. Kowalczyk leads the way with three double-doubles, one more than Hagen.
• SERVING UP ACES: Luther has served up 120 aces and has five players with 10 or more aces. LeBonte leads the way for the Norse with 33 aces, followed by Olson-Sola (28), Schei (26), Kowalczyk (12), and Dailey (10).
• AS A TEAM: Luther has hammered out 645 kills and are hitting .149, while collecting 567 assists, 120 aces, and 1,032 digs. … Two of Luther’s four wins this season have been 3-0 sweeps. The Norse also own one 3-1 win and one 3-2 victory. On the flip side, Luther has been swept six times, while dropping five 3-1 decisions and a pair of five-setters.
• FAMILIAR FACE: Luther head coach Brittany Sisk played collegiately at Saint Mary’s, where she closed out her collegiate career with 3,164 assists — third all-time — and helped the Cardinals to an NCAA Division III national tournament appearance in 2010.
