Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Athletics

WINONA, Minn. – On Wednesday, we win! The Saint Mary's volleyball team (6-3) took down the UW-La Crosse Eagles (2-3) and the Luther Norse (2-8) on Wednesday at the Cardinals triangular. 

SMU 3, UWL 2

After dropping set one, the Cardinals bounced back to take a five-set win over the Eagles in the first match of the evening.

Trailing early in set two, the Cardinals found a way to take set two, 25-18, fueled by two five-point runs led by Kali Olson, Ava Berg, Maddie Baker, and Ayla Olson.

Set three was a back-and-forth battle as the Cardinals found themselves trailing once again to start the set. A 12-3 run by the Cardinals gave the team all the momentum to push onward. A service ace by Lavin LeJeune and a kill by Brianna Hanneken gave the Cardinals the advantage, 14-13. Two Attack errors faulted the Eagles to end the set 27-25.

It was the Eagles who responded in set four. It was all Cardinals when Brianna Hanneken got the set started before Kali Olson had the next four kills of the match, pushing the lead to 7-3 early. Errors piled up on the Eagles, and the Cardinals took the final set 15-13.

Kali Olson led all attackers with 20 kills and seven blocks. Ayla Olson had a double-double with 13 kills and 14 digs. LeJeune had a career-best 26 assists in the match.

SMU 3, LC 0

The Cardinals capped the night on top with a sweep over the Luther Norse. 

The offense took it to them as the Cardinals hit .280 over the match. The Cardinals took set one handily, 25-13, with tough serving doing the work. Kali Olson went on a personal run with three service aces to take a 9-4 lead. 

In set two, the Cardinals found themselves trailing 5-0 to start. It was not until the Cardinals' 12-1 run, led by more aces by Olson and Claire Rahman, to win set two 25-18.

Looking to finish the night on top, the Cardinals hit a day-best .417 in the third set with 13 kills to pave the way for a 25-12 masterpiece. 

Maddie Baker had four blocks to lead the Cardinals.

Looking Ahead

The Cardinals will hit the road this weekend as they are set to travel to Dubuque, Iowa. They will face Loras College on Friday, Sept. 18 at 7:00 p.m. before taking on Dubuque and a rematch with Lawrence on Saturday.