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| 2006 Records: 0-0 MIAC, 4-6 Overall |
| Recent Results: Viterbo Quadrangular: UW-Stevens Point 3, Saint Mary's 0 / Details Saint Mary's 3, Clarke 1 / Details SMU Sugar Loaf Classic Maranatha Baptist 3, Saint Mary's 2 / Details Saint Mary's 3, UW-Superior 2 / Details Saint Mary's 3, Wartburg 2 / Details St. Scholastica 3, Saint Mary's 1 / Details *Complete Tournament results / click here |
| Upcoming Events: Wed., Sept. 13: SMU at Bethel, 7 p.m. Tues., Sept. 19: Macalester at SMU, 7 p.m. Fri., Sept. 22: SMU at Saint Benedict, 7 p.m. Sat., Sept. 23: SMU at Concordia, 3 p.m. |
| Cardinal News and Notes: Three of the Cardinals four matches during the SMU Sugar Loaf Classic went the maximum five games. … It was the first time this season that the Cardinals have been extended to five games. … Molli Dant (Forest City, Iowa) collected a team-leading 125 kills and posted nine service aces, while Ashley Wendlandt (Litchfield, Minn.,) hit .234 and posted 28 blocks. … Breanna Benham (Deer River, Minn.) dished out a tournament-best 299 assists — earning the freshman setter all-tournament team honors — while Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) collected 230 digs. … SMU's tournament wins over UW-Superior and Wartburg marked the first time this season that the Cardinals have won back-to-back matches. … After dropping four of their first five matches, SMU has won three of its last five. |
Cardinals during 2-2 Sugar Loaf Classic showing
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Breanna
Benham 299 assists at Sugar Loaf |
After going the maximum five games in splitting their opening two games last Friday evening — falling to Maranatha 3-2, before beating UW-Superior by the same score — the Cardinals made it a five-game trifecta in their first game Saturday, holding off Wartburg 3-2.
And, after splitting their first two games in their final match against St. Scholastica, it appeared the Cardinals would go a perfect 4-for-4 in five-game matches.
Unfortunately for SMU, the tank hit empty midway through the third game, and the fumes weren't enough to carry the Cardinals, as they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Saints in the tournament's fifth-place match.
"That was a lot of volleyball," said SMU coach Mike Lester, whose team dropped to 4-6 overall with the 2-2 Sugar Loaf Classic performance. "This is a team that expends a lot of energy when they play. It's tough to play one five-game match, let alone three — and when you play with so much emotion, like we do, it's that much more draining.
"There were a lot of momentum swings all weekend, and in the end, we just ran out of gas — both physically and emotionally"
Nothing came easy for the Cardinals on Saturday, as SMU and Wartburg traded games in their opening match, with the Cardinals rallying from five points down in the fifth and deciding game to pull out the 30-25, 24-30, 30-20, 17-15 win.
And it was more of the same in Round 2, as St. Scholastica jumped out to a 30-26 Game 1 win, only to have SMU turn the tables with a 30-26 win of its own in Game 2. That was as far the Cardinals would go, however, as the Saints put the match away with wins of 30-17 and 30-27.
"It's hard to say you are disappointed (with a 2-2 showing) when you look at the bigger picture," said Lester. "We got some really strong play from a number of players, and I think we are starting to gel a bit as a team.
"I think we learned a lot about ourselves this weekend," continued Lester, whose team opens conference play on Wednesday at Bethel. "I think we learned that when we put our best game on the floor, we're as good as anyone around."