DUBUQUE, Iowa — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team, derailed by a pair of losses in its first two matches at the Loras Invitational Friday evening, was looking to get back on the winning track on Saturday.
 
Unfortunately, Monmouth and the University of Dubuque had other ideas.
 
Saint Mary's rallied from a 2-1 deficit, but the Scots had the upper hand in the fifth set, beating SMU 15-12 to deal the Cardinals a 3-2 setback in the teams' first match of Day 2 at the Loras Invitational.
 
And in their final match of the two-day event, the University of Dubuque refused to let the weary Cardinals — playing their sixth match in the last five days — get into any type of rhythm in dealing SMU a 3-0 setback.
 
MATCH 1: MONMOUTH 3, SAINT MARY'S 2
The Cardinals got out of the gates quickly — opening with a 25-17 victory, only to drop the next two sets, 25-22 and 25-23. Saint Mary's bounced back to knot things up with another convincing win in Set 4, dropping the Scots 25-15 to force a fifth set, but in the race to 15, it was Monmouth that had the stronger finishing kick, winning 15-12 to seal the 3-2 win.
 
 Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) led a trio of Cardinals in double figures with 20 kills. Kali Olson (New York Mills, Minn.) chipped in 18 kills — three shy of her career-best — and Jazzy Davis (La Crosse, Wis.) added 11. Faith VanErp (Sartell, Minn.) recorded her second 50+ assist performance, dishing out a career-high 53 helpers, while four players had 10 or ore digs, led by Lindsey Rossow (Rochester, Minn.) with 20.
 
McNally and VanErp each picked up double-doubles against the Scots, with McNally adding 12 digs to her 20 kills and VanErp tacking on 10 digs to her 53 assists. Devann Clemens (Chatfield, Minn.) also hit double figures in digs with 11.
 
MATCH 2: UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE 3, SAINT MARY'S 0
The Spartans outlasted Saint Mary's 25-21 in the opening set of their matchup, and the Cardials could not recover, dropping the next two sets 25-18, 25-18.
 
McNally once again led the Saint Mary's offensive attack, delivering 13 kills, with Davis also finishing in double figures with 10 kills. VanErp accounted for 25 of the team's 30 assists, with Rossow racking up a team-best 11 digs.
 
The Cardinals (6-7 overall) are right back in action on Tuesday, traveling to Storm Lake, Iowa, for a 6 p.m. nonconference match against Buena Vista.
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