SUPERIOR, Wis. — Day 2 of the UW-Superior Subway Stinger Classic started — and ended — in much better fashion for the Saint Mary's University volleyball team.
After dropping a 3-0 decision to host UW-Superior on Friday, the Cardinals bounced back with a marathon, 3-2 win over Northland in their first match of the day on Saturday — and then followed that up with a 3-1 victory over Bethany Lutheran to complete their perfect afternoon.
The Cardinals kicked off their opening match of the day on a high note, beating the Lumberjills 25-13, but dropped back-to-back 25-21 decisions and were quickly staring at a 2-1 deficit. SMU answered with a convincing 25-16 win in the fourth set, and completed the come-from-behind victory with a 15-10 win in the fifth and deciding set.
Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) and
Brenna Bruchert led the way for the Cardinal offense, collecting 20 and 14 kills, respectively, with Bruchert also boasting a .310 attack percentage.
Faith VanErp (Sartell, Minn.) dished out a career-best 50 assists and
Lindsey Rossow (Rochester, Minn.) led a trio of Cardinals in double figures with 19 digs. McNally delivered 17 digs for her third kill-dig double-double of the season, and
Devann Clemens (Chatfield, Minn.) chipped in 11 digs.
For the second match in a row, Saint Mary's split the first two sets of its match against Bethany Lutheran, winning 25-17 in Set 1, before falling 25-23 in Set 2. The Cardinals took the lead for good with a 25-16 third-set victory, and iced the victory with a commanding 25-17 victory in the fourth set.
McNally and Bruchert were once again a lethal 1-2 combination for the Cardinals against BLC, with McNally racking up 16 and 14 kills, respectively, while VanErp followed up her 50-assist effort against Northland with 36 helpers vs. the Vikings. Rossow again led three SMU players in double figures in digs with 18. McNally tallied her second kill-dig double-double of the day with 13 digs and VanErp chipped in a double-double of her own with 12 digs.
The Cardinals (5-2 overall) are back in action on Tuesday, when they play host to UW-La Crosse (3:30 p.m.) and Luther (7:30 p.m.) in a pair of nonconference matches at the Saint Mary's Gym.
