RIPON, Wis. – The Cardinals volleyball team had swept Alverno in the first game of the Ripon Invitational and took Carroll to four sets and losing the second game of the day.
 
SMU 3, Alverno 0
 
Dominate in the first set, the Cardinals took an early 7-1 lead with Brenna Bruchert having a personal five point kill streak with an added sercave ace from Emma Rommes. The Cardinals lead only grew after Devann Clemens kept setting Bruchert and Grace King to take the largest lead of the set at 16-8. A few errors drew the Eagles back into the set getting within four late. Bruchert with the hot hand, ended the match with 10 kills leading the Cardinals to take set one, 25-18.
 
Alverno began to settle in as the started the second match digging a few Kali Olson kills to take the first lead of the match, 6-5. Each kill from Bruchert, Olson, or Klug seemed to be followed by an Alernvo point. Finally, the momentum started to go in favor of the Cardinals as Clemens set Olson twice for a strong kill and an Olson block to take the lead 19-13, forcing an Alverno timeout. Setting their hitters up for success, between Kinlee Gratton and Clemens, they had 35 assists to lead the Cardinals to a two-set lead.
 
The Cardinals started the third set with two aces from Lindsey Rossow to take a 7-3 lead. Cardinals had taken a 10-point lead and never looked back finishing 25-14. The Cardinals were led by 21 kills from Bruchert and 13 from Olson. Eight service aces, four from Rossow, three from Caitlin Bakken, and one from Bruchert.
 
SMU 1, CC 3
 
Two early Klug and Olson kills set the Cardinals up for an early 6-2 lead against Carroll. Five attack errors in a row did not help Carroll get back into the set as they dug themselves a hole at 19-11. Gratton assisted on six hits for 8 kills from Klug and Olson to take the first set, 25-16.
 
In the second set, the Cardinals took a quick 5-1 lead over the Pioneers as a kill and an ace from Klug started the run. The defense on the Cardinals end started to pick up as two blocks in a row from Brianna Hanneken and an ace from Gratton helped boost the energy. A personal three kill run from King extended the lead, 20-16. The Pioneers fought back late to tie things up at 23 after two attack errors on Saint Mary's end. The Pioneers turned things around to take set two, 23-25.
 
A slow start effected the Cardinals as a few attacking errors gave the Pioneers a 14-6 lead in the third set. Two kills from Bruchert and a kill from king was made an attempt to creep back into the set, 17-9. The front line of the Pioneers was too much to handle in the set as the Cardinals were down two sets to one, losing the third 17-25.
 
Looking to bounce back in the fourth, two early kills from Bruchert and another from Olson get the Cardinals going taking a 7-4 lead. That lead slipped as the Pioneers went on a five-point run to pass the Cardinals as errors started to pile up. The Cardinals could not find the bottom of the court as the Pioneers had doubled the amount of kills of the Cardinals in the fourth, ultimately winning three sets to one.
 
The Cardinals will head into day two of the Ripon Invitational with the first match at 9am against Maranatha Baptist.