Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals
• 2020 RECAP: The Cardinals closed out the pandemic-shortened 2020 season — played in the spring of 2021 — with a 5-4 record, but dropped their final three matches. … The Cardinals picked up wins over Concordia (3-1), St. Catherine (3-2), Bethel (3-2), Hamline (3-1), and Gustavus (3-2), while falling to Augsburg (3-0), St. Thomas (3-1), Saint Benedict (3-0), and St. Olaf (3-0). … The Cardinals had their five-match winning streak snapped with their 3-0 loss to Saint Benedict on April 19.
• ON THE ATTACK: Linnaea Wallis (Dresser, Wis.) recorded eight consecutive double-doubles in her final eight matches as a Cardinal. The senior outside led the Cardinals in kills with 154 — recording 10 or more kills in each of the team’s final eight matches. … Wallis recorded a career-high 30-kill effort against Hamline on April 14. Wallis’ 30 kills against Hamline were not only a single-match career high, but also fell just one kill short of the program record for kills in a match, held by Brandi Blattner, who delivered 31 kills against Bethel on Oct. 21, 2016. … Wallis’ 154 kills were tops in the MIAC this season. … Coral Anderson (Rogers, Minn.) was second to Wallis with 82 kills, followed by Ciarra McNally (Lewiston, Minn.) with 82. … McNally recorded a career-high 19 kills in SMU’s 3-1 loss to St. Thomas on April 21, while Anderson notched a career-best 20 kills at St. Catherine on March 31. …
• SETTING THE STAGE: Mandy Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) dished out 333 assists in her freshman campaign, eclipsing 40 helpers five times — including a career-best 47 against both St. Catherine and Gustavus.
• DIGGING IN: DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.) was the team-leader in digs with 187 — including six matches with 20 or more digs. … With her 39th dig on March 28, Baab reached the 1,000 career dig plateau. Baab is the 12th person in program history to reach 1,000 career digs and with 1,148 digs, Baab will enter her senior season trailing Anna Thibault ’06 (1239) for No. 9 all-time.
• THIS AND THAT: Saint Mary’s amassed 41 service aces this season, led by Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn.) with 11 and Wallis with nine. … The Cardinals set a single-set program-record, scoring 38 points in a 38-36, opening-set win over St. Thomas on April 21. UST answered with three straight set wins to hand SMU a 3-1 setback. … Three of the Cardinals’ five wins this season were 3-2, five-setters. … Saint Mary’s lost the first set in eight of its nine matches in 2021. …
