WINONA, Minn. — Coming off a thrilling, 3-1 win over St. Olaf in its final match of a three-match weekend last Saturday, the Saint Mary's University volleyball team looked to ride that wave of momentum past Carleton in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest Wednesday evening.
 
Mission accomplished — in impressive fashion.
 
The Cardinals — who set a single-set program record by limiting Carleton to just seven second-set points in a 25-7 victory — steamrolled past the Knights in three sets, needing just 70 minutes to record the 3-0 conference victory at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Cardinals didn't get off to the start that coach Amber Zitzow was hoping for, falling behind 6-1 before the match was even five minutes old. A quick timeout — and a 9-3 run — however, did wonders for the Cardinals, who capped their 9-3 burst with a Brenna Bruchert (Eau Claire, Wis.) kill to knot the set at 10-10.
 
After two more ties, Saint Mary's finally grabbed its first lead of the set, 15-14, on a block by Maddie Baker (Savage, Minn.) and Faith VanErp (Sartell, Minn.). The Cardinals pushed that advantage to three, 18-15 — and once they had the upper hand, they never relinquished it, rattling off seven of the final 10 points for a 25-18 victory.
 
Saint Mary's took a page out of Carleton's playbook to kick off the second set, scoring five of the first six points for a quick, 5-1 advantage. Unlike the opening set, however, the Cardinals weren't about to let the Knights claw their way back, holding the Knights to just seven total points in coasting to a 25-7 win — and a commanding 2-0 lead.
 
The Cardinals had to work a little harder to secure the three-set victory, racing out to what appeared to be commanding leads as big as nine, 15-6, only to have Carleton coming storming back to whittle the lead to two, 19-17. SMU regrouped, however, and rattled off six of the set's final seven points for the 25-18, sweep-clinching victory.
 
Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) delivered 14 kills and eight digs to lead the way for the Cardinals, while VanErp chipped in 29 assists and Lindsey Rossow (Rochester, Minn.) posted a team-high nine digs.
 
The Cardinals (2-3 MIAC, 9-12 overall) are right back in action — and right back on their home court — on Friday, when they welcome Augsburg to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 7 p.m. conference contest.
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