WAVERLY, Iowa – Although the Saint Mary's volleyball team (8-7) may have dropped two matches today, the team celebrates junior setter Kinlee Grattan for surpassing 1,000 career assists.
The team traveled to Iowa Saturday morning facing two tough teams, host Wartburg (10-5) and Concordia (Wis.) (8-4), falling 3-0 and 3-0.
SMU 0, WAR 3
In set one, the Cardinals jumped ahead to a 6-2 lead after errors plagued the Knights' offense. Ava Berg and Kali Olson started off hot with a kill of their own. The Knights started a rally of their own, eventually tying the match 12-12. Berg and Olson combined for the team's post-powerful threats before a late 6-0 run finished set one, 25-18.
A slow start told the story in set two. The Cardinals attempted to dig themselves out of a 10-3 deficit. Kaia DePaolo, Ayla Olson, and Brianna Hanneken each earned two kills as the Cardinals fought back, but it was not enough energy, falling 25-14.
Looking to not get swept, the Cardinals traded points with the Knights 6-6. Ayla Olson had an ace and a kill, jumping ahead 11-8. The Knights finished the match on a 10-2 run that capped the set, 25-19.
Kali Olson led the team with nine kills and seven blocks.Â
SMU 0, CUW 3
In just the sixth matchup of all time between the Concordia Falcons and the Saint Mary's Cardinals, the Cardinals worked to get one win under their belt on the day.
In set one, Kali Olson exploded for five early kills, aided by one by Ayla Olson and an ace by Claire Rahman to jump to a 7-2 lead. Falcons errors built up a run for the Cardinals, tying the game 22 all. Three errors ended the run in favor of the Falcons, 25-22.
In set two, energy dwindled as a 12-3 lead shut the team down from the start.Â
It was a back-and-forth affair for set three.
Berg and Ayla Olson were the hot hand early. The Falcons built up four small leads with no response as the Cardinals were shut down 25-20 to end the day.
Grattan recorded a season-best 27 assists to surpass her 1,000 career assists in the match.
Looking Ahead
Now, the Cardinals will look to open conference play by hosting Carleton on Friday, Oct. 2, for a 7:00 p.m. matchup.
