DUBUQUE, Iowa — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team entered the Loras Invitational Friday night on the heels of a 3-0 victory over Luther in their most recent contest last Tuesday.
And the Cardinals' first match of the two-day tournament against Coe also needed just three sets to decide a winner.
Unfortunately, this time around, the Cardinals came out on the wrong side of that 3-0 decision.
And while Match 2 of the day wasn't decided in three sets, it also didn't go SMU's way, as the Cardinals dropped a 3-1 decision to host Loras.
MATCH 1: COE 3, SAINT MARY'S 0
In the first match, Coe outlasted the Cardinals 25-21 in the first set, and picked up momentum in both the second and third sets en route to a 25-21, 25-17, 25-11 victory over Saint Mary's.
Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) and
Maddie Baker (Savage, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals against the Kohawks with six kills each, one more than
Brenna Bruchert (Eau Claire, Wis.) and
Kali Olson (New York Mills, Minn.), while Faith Van Erp (Sartell, Minn.) chipped in 21 assists. McNally added 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the season, and
Lindsey Rossow (Rochester, Minn.) chipped in 10 digs of her own to pace the Cardinals.
MATCH 2: LORAS 3, SAINT MARY'S 1
The two teams split the first two matches when SMU took the court against Loras in their second match of the evening, with Loras winning the first set, 25-22, and SMU rebounding with a 25-19 win in the second set.
From there, however, it was all Loras, as the Duhawks collected a 25-22 victory in the third set, and sealed the win with a 27-25 win in Set. No. 4.
Davis collected a career-high 15 kills and McNally added 14 to lead the SMU offense, with VanErp delivering a team-best 38 assists. McNally added her second straight double-double with 15 digs, with Rossow adding a team-leading 20 digs.
The Cardinals (6-5 overall) close out the two-day Loras Invitational on Saturday, squaring off against Monmouth at 10 a.m. at Loras, before heading across town to the University of Dubuque for a 2 p.m. match against the Spartans.