WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary’s University volleyball team needed a late surge to reach the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournament a year ago.

In fact, the Cardinals were forced to put together a key, five-match winning streak to close out the regular season just to earn the sixth and final spot in the tournament.

And, unfortunately for SMU, the Cardinals couldn’t carry that late-season magic into the post-season, as Bethel sent SMU packing in the tournament’s first round, 3-2.

“The last three weeks of the season last year were like one long playoff run,” said Lester, whose team finished 7-4 in the MIAC a year ago — including those five straight regular season-ending victories. “It was unfortunate that we only lasted one match (in the MIAC tournament), but having to play three straight weeks of must-win matches, you’ve got to believe that experience will help us this year.”

And this year, the Cardinals aren’t about to sneak into the conference tournament via the back door — they have every intention of using the front door.

And they don’t plan on knocking.

But then, with virtually their entire starting lineup back — including All-MIAC first-teamer Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) — who’s to argue?

“We are a very experienced group, no question about that,” said Lester, who returns three players — Dingels (394 kills), Tracy Koertgen (Crystal Lake, Ill. / 354 kills) and Kirstan Rouzer (Comstock, Wis. / 352 kills) — with more than 350 kills a year ago. “Along with having five of our six starters back, and 10 of our top 12 players, we also have a very good group of freshmen.

“Competition for spots is going to be extremely competitive,” Lester continued. “And (the coaching staff) is going to face some tough decisions.”

And while selecting your starters from a stable of talented individuals is a nice dilemma for Lester to have, there is one thorn in the Cardinals’ bed of roses — who is going to replace setter extraordinaire Melissa Cowan, who, in her senior season, accounted for 1,260 of the team’s 1,371 assists.

“Mel ran the show for us last year, and her absence is going to be tough,” said Lester, noting that returners Tessa Stranik (Eatonville, Wash.) and Michelle Mino (Austin, Minn.) are capable of filling the void. “Offensively, we’re as good as any team in the MIAC. Defensively, we’re as good as any team in the conference. How well we are able to fill that setter position is going to be a huge key to our season.

“I’m not trying to put any pressure on Tessa or Michelle, it’s just that the setter is the one who runs the offense, and we don’t return a lot of experience there,” continued Lester. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Despite that one dent in the Cardinals’ seemingly impenetrable suit of armor, Lester isn’t about to crown his squad as the favorite to win the conference title — regular-season or post-season.

“You’d think that when you return as many players as we do, you’d have to be the favorite (to win the conference),” Lester said. “But there are a lot of teams out there — Bethel, St. Thomas, St. Olaf, Concordia … — who are returning at least as many starters as we are. Of the top 30 individuals (in the conference a year ago), only five or six are gone.

“The conference is loaded,” Lester added. “That means that every single match is crucial. If we are going to get to where we want to be — the NCAA tournament — we can’t afford any letdowns.”

Or disgruntled players.

“Every player on this team is vital to our success — and every player is going to have to fill a key role,” explained Lester. “That’s what happened the last time we made it to the NCAAs (following the 2000 season) — we had a lot of very good players, but we also had a number of key role players.

“This team wants to win every tournament they are in, and they want to win both MIAC (regular-season and post-season) titles. But their main goal is to get to the NCAA tournament.

“And in order to do that, everyone has to check their egos at the door, accept their roles and work together.”