ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University and Macalester volleyball teams found themselves embroiled in a two-hour, four-set marathon Friday evening — and when all was said and done, it was the team that recorded the first point of each set that came out on top.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they were only able to strike first in the third set, as Macalester held off a furious Saint Mary's in dealing SMU a 3-1, season-ending Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Leonard Center Gym.
The opening set didn't start — or end — the way the Cardinals had hoped. Macalester raced out to an early 6-2 advantage, but SMU battled back, rattling off eight unanswered points for a 10-6 lead. Saint Mary's would play from out from for the majority of the set, only to have the Scots score nine of the final 12 points to erase a 20-16 Saint Mary's lead and give Macalester the 25-23 Set 1 victory.
Neither team seemed to want to play with the lead in the second set — Saint Mary's rattled off six of the first eight points for a 6-2 advantage, only to have Macalester answer with a 6-0 run of its own for an 8-6 lead — and through 20 points, the set was deadlocked at 10-10. Saint Mary's would regain the lead at 12-10, but that would be the last time the Cardinals would play from out front, as the Scots would use a 15-7, set-ending burst to win 25-19 and grab a 2-0 lead.
After surrendering the first point in each of the first two sets, the Cardinals took a different approach in set No. 3. And it worked — but it wasn't easy. Saint Mary's scored the first two points of the set, but found themselves down 24-20 and staring at four match points. Unfazed, the Cardinals racked up five unanswered points and went on to seal a 27-25 victory.
Saint Mary's would need some more late-set magic in the fourth set, as they once again found themselves trailing late, 21-19. The Cardinals would pull even at 21-21 and it appeared as if a second straight come-from-behind victory was in the making. Macalester, however, had other ideas, scoring the set's final four points to seal the 3-1 win, 25-21.
Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) playing her final collegiate match, led the Cardinals with 17 kills, while
Kali Olson (New York Mills, Minn.) also finished in double figures with 10 kills.
Faith VanErp (Sartell, Minn.) dished out 38 assists and added 16 digs for her 11th double-double of the season.
Lindsey Rossow (Rochester, Minn.) chipped in a team-best 18 digs.
With her fourth assist of the third set — and 21st assist in the match against the Scots — VanErp reached the 1,000 assist mark for the season, becoming just the 16th player in program history to reach 1,000 helpers in a single season.
The Cardinals closed out the 2023 season sitting at 11-19 overall, including 3-8 in conference play.
