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2006 Records:
0-4 MIAC, 4-10 Overall
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Macalester 3, Saint Mary's 0 / Details
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Concordia 3, Saint Mary's 0 / Details
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Wed., Sept. 27: St. Kate's at SMU, 7 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 29: Hamline at SMU, 7 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 30: St. Thomas at SMU, 3 p.m.
Cardinal News and Notes:
Molli Dant (Forest City, Iowa) collected a team-best 38 kills in SMU's three matches last week, pushing her team-leading total to 175 kills this season. … Breanna Benham (Deer River, Wis.) dished out 90 assists, while Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) notched a team-best 55 digs. … Perrini now has 314 digs and is one of three SMU players with more than 100 digs. … The Cardinals are looking for their first win since a 3-2 triumph over Wartburg during the second day of the SMU Sugar Loaf Classic on Sept. 9 — a span of five matches. … SMU has won just two games during their current five-match slide. … Five of SMU's 10 losses have been by 3-0 scores. … Two of SMU's four wins have been on the Cardinals' home floor — where they play three matches this week. … After falling to No. 23 Saint Benedict and No. 4 Concordia last weekend, the Cardinals will face their third nationally ranked team in less than a week this Saturday when they play host to No. 6 St. Thomas.
Road trip goes from bad to worse as Cardinals see
losing streak hit 5 with losses to Blazers, Cobbers

Who's Hot?

Molli
Dant

38 kills in
3 matches
last week
WINONA, Minn. — With a Game 1 win and a 29-28 lead in the second game, the Saint Mary's University volleyball team appeared to be well on its way to snapping its three-match losing streak.

Then the momentum shifted — and the Cardinals' hopes of their first win since a 3-2 win over Wartburg on September 9 shifted with it.

Saint Benedict rattled off the last three points of that second game and never looked back, keeping the Cardinals winless in three Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches with a 3-1 (28-30, 31-29, 30-15, 30-19) win last Friday

And, as if watching their season-high losing streak climb to four matches with Friday's 3-1 setback at Saint Benedict wasn't enough, SMU found itself back on the court again Saturday afternoon.

Against the fourth-ranked team in the nation.

Talk about the road not getting any easier.

The Cardinals, showing the ill effects of the emotional hangover from Friday's loss to Saint Benedict, came out flat against the Cobbers — and things just went from bad to worse, as Concordia cruised to a 3-0 (30-19, 30-11, 30-27) MIAC win.

"We just were not ready to play (against Concordia)," said SMU coach Mike Lester. "We played such an emotional match (against Saint Benedict) — a match that everyone felt was one that we could have won — we just weren't able to get our game back to the level it needed to be at.

"Concordia is the biggest team in the MIAC and they just took it to us," continued Lester, whose team has now dropped five straight. "I could tell in warm-ups that we weren't mentally ready to play, and that's not a good sign when you are going against a team as good as (Concordia)."

Molli Dant (Forest City, Iowa) led the way for the Cardinals vs. Concordia, collecting 11 kills and 12 digs, while Theresa Perrini (Fairway, Kan.) chipped in 19 digs.

"This is always a tough road trip for us," said Lester of the journey to St. Joseph, Minn. (home of Saint Benedict) on Friday and then on to Moorhead, Minn. (home of the Cobbers) on Saturday. "You have to be ready mentally and physically, and we just weren't able to do that two days in a row."