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Stanton's 13 kills not enough as Warriors cruise to win over SMU
WINONA, Minn. — There wasn't much about Monday's nonconference match against Winona State that Mike Lester would like to remember.
Except, perhaps, the play of freshman Pam Stanton (Mundelein, Ill.).
On a night when the Cardinals could do nothing right, Stanton was the Cardinals' silver lining, as the SMU freshman tallied a match-high 13 kills.
Stanton's heroics, however, weren't enough to carry the Cardinals, who struggled from start to finish in falling to their NCAA Division II cross-town rivals in three straight, 30-13, 30-15, 30-21.
"We did not come to play tonight," said SMU coach Mike Lester, whose team dropped its third straight — all by 3-0 scores. "You have to give Winona State a lot of credit, they are a very good team — but they weren't as good as we made them look."
The Cardinals scored the first two points of Game 1, but from there, it was all WSU, as the Warriors went on a 14-1 run and never looked back. It was more of the same in the second game, as Winona State scored the first seven points in rolling to a 30-15 win.
SMU hung tough in the third game, trailing just 14-12 following an ace serve from Stanton. The Warriors then scored 16 of the next 25 points to close out the match.
"I thought Pam played outstanding tonight," said Lester of his freshman outside hitter. "The problem was, aside from that, we didn't play all that well.
"This is one of those matches you just want to forget as soon as possible," continued Lester, whose team will return to conference play at Augsburg on Wednesday. "But we also have to learn from this game — we've got to start coming to the gym mentally and physically ready to play."