WINONA, Minn. – Looking for redemption on day two of the Sugar Loaf Classic, the Cardinals ended the home tournament 1-2 after splitting the second day.
 
SMU 3, Buena Vista 1
 
In set one of game one, the Cardinals setter Lindsey Rossow fed her outside hitters Brenna Bruchert early to get her going as she had back-to-back kills to end Buena Vista's momentum, forcing a timeout after completing a four point rally to tie things at seven.
 
The attack errors from the cardinals helped build a Beavers five-point lead. Late in the set, the Cardinals kept using their outside hitters Kali Olson and Bruchert to keep a one-point deficit. The Cardinals late run not enough to take set one.
 
Attack after attack, the offense was heating up going kill after kill to have the largest lead of the game at 8-4. Alison Wu and Olson kept taking it at the Beavers to take a 14-11 lead.  Bruchert went on a to serve six times in a row, two of which resulted in an ace, to stretch the lead in the second to nine at 23-14. Cardinals take set two.
 
Rossow starts the third with an ace and three straight serves to take the early 3-0 lead. Beavers respond taking the lead 13-12 of Cardinal attack errors. Tied up at 13, the Cardinals pulled away and Ashley Rodgers in the back row having five tough serves in a row with two aces under her belt. Cardinals take set three.
 
Devann Clemens helped inch the Cardinals towards the first game victory as she had set her teammates up for success taking the early 8-3 lead. The Beavers come back after miscommunication from the Cardinals drops them from the lead. Clemens subbed back in to set Olson and Bruchert for a team total of 46 kills to beat the Beavers in the first game of the day.
 
SMU 0, Bethany Lutheran 3
 
Back and forth the Cardinals go with the Vikings as both teams looked to end the tournament on a high note. A few errors gave the Vikings a 9-5 lead to start set one. The Cardinals got it within two with a Paige Klug and Olson kill but the Vikings quickly responded as the Cardinals could not dig themselves out of a seven-point deficit at 10-17. The Vikings had a powerful front line that was too much for Saint Mary's to handle losing the first set. 16-25.
 
Looking for a comeback, the Cardinals started red hot with a 5-0 serving run by Rossow. After a Bethany Lutheran timeout, the Vikings responded with a kill and two service aces to tie things up at eight. Two kills from Olson and Bruchert kept the Cardinals within five.
 
The late run not enough to beat the Vikings in set two.
 
Set three, the Cardinals look to not get swept. Two kills by Bruchert and an ace by Klug put the Cardinals ahead 5-4. The Vikings quickly took advantage of the free balls played over resulting in an out of system kill for the Vikings, taking a 15-12 lead. The Cardinals set Brianna Hanneken and Wu to close the gap to one. A close match, the attack errors were too much for a comeback.
 
Cardinals drop game two to finish the weekend at home 1-2.
 
The Cardinals are 3-4 in the 2024 season and travel to Decorah, Iowa on Tuesday for two games at 5:30 and 7:30.