LA CROSSE, Wis. – The volleyball team traveled across the Mississippi River to compete in the La Crosse Invitational where they played one game today against Central College. The Cardinals started the weekend losing in four sets to the Dutch.
 
SMU 1, CC 3
 
The Cardinals went on a four-nothing run after a Kali Olson block and kill. The Dutch went on a run of their own to tie it up at nines. The tall blockers of the Dutch created a bit of a struggle for the Cardinal hitters as they dropped to a deficit of eight at 21-13 in the first set. The Cardinals came out of a timeout with a solid block and kill from Brenna Bruchert, but the deficit was too large to come back from, the Dutch take set one 25-16.
 
It was a slow start for the Cardinals after a few tipped kills were just out of reach for Saint Mary's defense as the Cardinals quickly fell by nine, 10-1. After a few long rallies, Devann Clemens set Bruchert twice for two back-to-back kills and tried to get the momentum going. The Cardinals late rally was not enough as they fell two sets to none.
 
The Cardinals started the must win third set with a strong cross court kill from Bruchert. They began to get in a rhythm after an Olson and Grace King kill followed by an ace from Caitlan Bakken and took their first lead, 8-6, since the opening first set. The Cardinals continued their five-point run with contribution from a Dutch overpass leading to an Olson slam as they extended the lead. The Cardinal's defense was relentless as they were flying around in the back court which led to a flustered Dutch team. Their greatest lead of the night to 12, 24-12. Cardinals force a fourth set.
 
Picking up right where they left off, Clemens fed Bruchert early to take the early 4-1 lead. The errors caught up to the Cardinals as the Dutch took a 10-7 lead. The Dutch began to fall apart giving up eight errors in the set which drew the Cardinals back in tied at 15. Two more attack errors from and a block from Brianna Hanneken created a 19-15 score in favor of the Cardinals. Back and forth the end of the set went as both teams pushed extra points. A late kill by Paige Klug not enough as two kills from the finished the game, 28-26.
 
Bruchert lead all scorers with 17 kills and three aces in the loss to Central.
 
The Cardinals have a quick turnaround as they are back in action at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning against Martin Luther and conclude the Invite at 1 p.m. against Nebraska Wesleyan.