WINONA, Minn. — You'll have to forgive Saint Mary's University volleyball coach if she doesn't have any fingernails left after Saturday's matches against Concordia and Central-Iowa at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
After all, six of the eight sets against the Cobbers and Dutch were decided by just two, nail-biting points.
 
Unfortunately for Zitzow and her gnawed down fingernails, all three two-point sets against Concordia went the Cobbers way, as CC dealt the Cardinals a 3-0 setback Saturday afternoon at the Saint Mary's Gym — sandwiching a pair of 25-23 wins around a 27-25 Set 2 victory.
 
And it was more of the same in SMU's second match of the day, as Central jumped out to a 2-1 lead — with all three sets once again decided by two points. SMU changed things up with a 25-15 win in the fourth set, but the Dutch cruised to a 15-7 win in Set No. 5 in dealing Saint Mary's the 3-2, nonconference setback.
 
MATCH 1: CONCORDIA 3, SAINT MARY'S 0
The Cardinals found themselves playing catch-up throughout most of the opening set. SMU recorded the opening point of the set, only to have Concordia rattle off seven unanswered points to grab a 7-1 lead. The Cardinals clawed their way back, using a 13-6 burst to take a 14-13 lead. That, however, would be the last time the Cardinals would lead in the set, as CC pushed its lead to 24-21, and after SMU fought off a pair of set points, iced the Set 1 win, 25-23.
 
The Cardinals recorded the first point of the second set, and, unfortunately for SMU, the set ended in much the same fashion as the first — with a two-point loss. Saint Mary's led by as many as five, and held a four-point, 21-17 advantage. CC rallied to know the set at 23-23. The Cardinals once again fought off two set points, but back-to-back Cobbers points at 25-25 gave Concordia the 27-25 win — and a 2-0 edge in the match.
 
Saint Mary's tried a different approach in the third set — allowing Concordia to net the first point. It didn't help, as SMU dropped its third straight two-point outcome. After falling behind 10-3, SMU used a 7-0 run to knot the set at 10-10. The set would be tied six more times — including 23-23 — but again the Cobbers proved to have the better finishing kick, breaking the 23-23 deadlock with a pair of points for the match-clinching 25-23 win.
 
Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) tallied a team-high 12 kills, one more than Kali Olson (New York Mills, Minn.), while Faith VanErp (Sartell, Minn.) dished out 30 assists and Lindsey Rossow (Rochester, Minn.) added a team-leading 13 digs.
 
MATCH 2: CENTRAL-IOWA 3, SAINT MARY'S 2
It was a new match, against a new opponent — with the same end result in the opening set of the Cardinals' match against Central-Iowa, as the Dutch broke a 24-24 deadlock with back-to-back points to open with a 26-24 victory. Saint Mary's held leads as big as two points, while the Dutch led by as many as four, and the set was tied eight times — including 24-24 — setting up Central's late-set push.
 
It appeared as if the Cardinals would run away with the second set, using a 9-3 run — and McNally's 1,000th career kill — to rally from a 14-17 deficit and take a three-point, 22-19 lead. Unfortunately, the end of the set followed the same script as the first — and all three of the sets in the opening match against Concordia — as Central used back-to-back aces as part of a set-ending 5-1 burst to seal yet another two-point win, this time a 25-23 decision to give the Dutch a 2-0 lead.
 
Saint Mary's struggled to get into a rhythm early in the third set, falling behind by as many as six, 8-2, before cutting the deficit to two, 15-13. Central rebuilt the lead to five on four different occasions — including 21-16 — only to have Saint Mary's rattle off eight of the next 11 points to claw even at 24-24. The set would also be tied at 25-25 and 26-26, before the Cardinals rattled off two unanswered points to finally end up on the winning side of a two-point set, 28-26.
 
The Cardinals gave coach Zitzow's fingernails a breather in the fourth set, scoring six of the first seven points and building leads as big as 10 in running away with a rare set win not decided by two points — bouncing the Dutch 25-15 to force a fifth set.
 
The match returned to its nail-biting self to open the winner-take-all fifth set, but the Dutch corralled the momentum with nine unanswered points for an 11-2 lead — and the Cardinals never recovered in falling 15-7.
 
McNally finished with a double-double of 23 kills and 12 digs, while VanErp also had a double-double, recording 45 assists and a team-best 18 digs. Olson (16) and Brenna Bruchert (Eau Claire, Wis. / 12) also hit double figures in kills, while VanErp led a season-high five players in double figures in digs, being joined by Deann Clemens (Chatfield, Minn. / 16), Alison Wu (Woodbury, Minn. / 16), McNally (12), and Olson (12).
 
The Cardinals (0-3 MIAC, 7-10 overall) are now off until next weekend, when they are slated to play three road matches. SMU heads to St. Joseph, Minn., for a 7 p.m. MIAC match against Saint Benedict on Friday, before squaring off against Nebraska Wesleyan (4 p.m.) and St. Olaf (6 p.m.) in Northfield, Minn., on Saturday.
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