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Official Box Score The Highlights: |
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 vs.  Tuesday, October 30 • 7:30 p.m. SMU Gym |
LA CROSSE, Wis. — It wasn't easy, but the Saint Mary's University volleyball team ran its winning streak to six straight Friday evening, as the Cardinals got 15 kills from Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) and 14 from Rhonda Thibault (Faribault, Minn.) en route to a 3-2 (30-22, 29-30, 22-30, 30-16, 15-7) nonconference win over Viterbo.
"We were very inconsistent, and that's a bit of a concern," admitted SMU coach Mike Lester, whose Cardinals were stretched to the limit for the second straight match. "We came out very strong in the first game, and then kind of went to sleep. I think we figured Viterbo was just going to roll over and play dead."
Not a chance.
The V-Hawks rallied for wins of 31-29 and 30-22 to put SMU on the brink of elimination. SMU battled back, however, showing its true colors in winning Games 4 and 5.
"The losses in the second and third games were a pretty good wake-up call," admitted Lester, whose team opens Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament play Tuesday at home against Concordia. "Hopefully our players learned that we need to play at our best every game of every match."
Along with the stellar play of Gibbon and Thibault, who hit .357 and .542, respectively, SMU (15-12 overall) also got 13 kills and three ace serves from Tracy Koertgen (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and 12 kills and 13 digs from Leslie Nicholls (Hastings, Minn.).