WINONA, Minn. — Through the first three matches of the River City Classic — and the first four matches of the season — the Saint Mary's University volleyball team made it look easy, breezing to four straight 3-0 victories.

Getting that overall record to 5-0, however, was another story.

The Cardinals — who earned a berth opposite Nebraska Wesleyan in the River City Classic championship with back-to-back-to-back 3-0 wins over Coe, Clarke and the University of Dubuque — needed the maximum five games to get past the Prairie Wolves to earn the tournament crown last Saturday.

But it was anything but easy.

SMU was manhandled in the opening game of the championship match, getting outscored 12-1 as the Prairie Wolves broke an 18-18 tie and rolled to a 30-19 win. Then the nailbiting began, as SMU posted a pair of two-point wins, 31-29 and 30-28, to take a 2-1 advantage, only to have Nebraska Wesleyan force a decisive fifth game with a 30-28 win of its own. The Cardinals responded with an 18-16 Game 5 win to run their season-opening winning streak to five straight.

"It was a great weekend for us — especially that last match," said Lester, whose team had opened the season wtih a 3-0 triumph over Luther last Wednesday. "It was great to see us step up our game against a really, really good team like (Nebraska Wesleyan).

"It was a total team effort."

Kirstan Rouzer (Comstock, Wis.) led the SMU charge with a match-high 20 kills, while also adding 31 digs and a pair of blocks. Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) and Megan Roesler (St. Paul, Minn.) each chipped in 17 kills, while Roesler also tallied five blocks and Rachel Rivers (Apple Valley, Minn.) added 10 kills and 27 digs.

In Saturday's first match against the University of Dubuque, Rouzer again led the way, posting 13 kills and 14 digs. Lisa Engdahl (North Branch, Minn.) added 10 kills and 16 digs, while Tessa Stranik (Eatonville, Wash.) dished out 38 assists.

Dingels and Rouzer were a two-person wrecking crew in SMU's tournament-opening match against Coe, as Dingels tallied a match-high 16 kills and posted five blocks, while Rouzer chipped in 12 kills and 13 digs. Stranik dished out 43 assists and Tracy Koertgen (Crystal Lake, Ill.) tallied six kills, 13 digs and two blocks.

It was more of the same in their second match Friday against Clarke, as Molli Dant (Forest City, Iowa) led the Cardinal charge with 13 kills, while Engdahl finished with nine kills and 11 digs.

"Winning the tournament was great," said Lester, whose team puts its perfect 5-0 record on the line Wednesday, when they travel to La Crosse, Wis., to face 10th-ranked UW-La Crosse. "Going 5-0 gives us a lot of confidence (heading into Wednesday's match). But everyone also knows that, even though we are 5-0, we haven't played our best volleyball yet.

"Hopefully we'll see their best on Wednesday."