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2003 Record: 4-1 MIAC / 15-4 Overall
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| Last Week's Results: Oct. 1: St. Thomas 3, Saint Mary's 0 |
| This Week's Events: Wed., Oct. 8: vs. St. Olaf, 7:30 p.m. |
| This and That: The Cardinals' loss to St. Thomas last Wednesday was their first in five MIAC contests and snapped a six-match winning streak. … UST's 3-0 win marked just the second time this season that SMU has been swept. … Three of SMU's four losses this season have come against teams ranked in the AVCA Top 25 (Southwestern, Bethel and St. Thomas). … Tracy Koertgen (Crystal Lake, Ill.) collected 10 kills vs. St. Thomas and leads the team with 228. … SMU's next two matches are at home (vs. St. Olaf on Wed., Oct. 8 and Macalester, Wed., Oct. 15), before the Cardinals close out the regular season with 10 straight road matches. |
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team entered last Wednesday's match against St. Thomas as one of three teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with unblemished league records.
Unfortunately, the Cardinals didn't leave Wednesday's match that way, as the Tommies — ranked No. 13 in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll — as UST swept past SMU in three straight games, 30-27, 30-15, 32-30.
"That was one of those matches where, going in, we knew exactly what they were going to try and do, and they knew exactly what we were going to try and do. They just executed a bit better than we did," said SMU coach Mike Lester, whose team had its six-match winning streak snapped with the loss. "I honestly felt that if we won the serving and passing battle, we'd win the match. We did win that battle, (St. Thomas) just found a way to get it done."
Tracy Koertgen (Crystal Lake, Ill.) led the way for SMU (4-1 MIAC, 15-4 overall). The junior outside hitter collected 10 kills, two aces, eight digs and two blocks, while Kirstan Rouzer (Comstock, Wis.) tallied eight kills, two aces and seven digs. Tessa Stranik (Eatonville, Wash.) finished with 28 assists, with Desiree Larson (Blaine, Minn.) chipping in a team-high 15 digs.
"This is one of those losses where you are disappointed with the loss, but not devastated," explained Lester. "St. Thomas is a very good team, and it was really a match that could have gone either way. We didn't play that poorly — (St. Thomas) just played better."
The biggest downfall to the loss is the fact that now the Cardinals have seven days to think about it, since SMU does not play again until Wednesday, when the Cardinals play host to St. Olaf.
"This is a good time for us to have a little break, although you never like to have a week to sit and think about a loss," said Lester, whose team does not play again until Wednesday, when they play host to St. Olaf. "This team is already talking about what they would do differently if they got to play St. Thomas again, which is good to see.
"But I also know that, once we take the court (Wednesday), our full attention will be on St. Olaf."