WINONA, Minn. — There would be no quick, three-set outing for the Saint Mary's volleyball team to kick off Day 2 of the Sugar Loaf Classic.
 
After sweeping through the first day of the two-day tournament on Friday with back-to-back 3-0 wins over Marian and Lawrence, the Cardinals found themselves in unfamiliar territory in its first match on Saturday — trailing after the first set.
 
And the third set.
 
But the Cardinals were not about the throw in the towel, outlasting the Cougars 25-23 in the fourth set, before claiming a 15-12 victory in the fifth en route to a 3-2 victory.
 
Saint Mary's season-opening three-match win streak came to a screeching halt, however, in the Cardinals' final match of the day, as Elmhurst dealt SMU a tournament-ending 3-0 setback.
 
Saint Mary's and UMN Morris split the first two sets in their match — UMN Morris winning 25-19 in the first and SMU answering with a 25-20 victory in the second — before the Cougars regained the upper hand with a 25-14 win in set No. 3.
 
Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) led the Cardinal offense with a 24-kill, 14-dig double-double against UMN Morris, while Kali Olson (New York Mills, Minn.) delivered a career-high 21 kills. Faith VanErp (Sartell, Minn.) finished with a career-best 46 assists and Lindsey Rossow (Rochester, Minn.) racked up a career-high 30 digs.
 
In their second match of the afternoon, the Cardinals and Bluejays battled from start-to-finish, with Elmhurst holding the upper hand in all three sets, sandwiching a pair of 25-23 wins around a 25-20 Set 2 victory.
 
McNally once again led the Cardinals with 10 kills and nine digs, while Olson and Maddie Baker (Savage, Minn.) each chipped in seven kills. VanErp collected her second double-double of the season with 28 assists and 10 digs, with Devann Clemens (Chatfield, Minn.) also delivering 10 digs.
 
The Cardinals hit the road for the first time next weekend for three matches at the UW-Superior Invitational in Superior, Wis.
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