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Saint Mary's Cardinals
4-4 MIAC / 16-10 Overall
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Augsburg Auggies
3-5 MIAC / 15-13 Overall |
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Last Action: Last Action: The Cardinals got back on the winning track — and kept their MIAC playoff hopes alive — with a
3-1 victory over St. Catherine on Wednesday. … Augsburg, meanwhile, also stayed conference playoff picture with a
3-2 victory over Bethel on Wednesday.
Last Meeting: When the Cardinals entered last year’s Minnesota intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against Augsburg, the Cardinals' hopes of reaching the MIAC post-season tournament were on life support. When the Auggies knocked down their 15th point in Game 5 of the teams' marathon match, the Cardinals' playoff hopes had officially flat-lined. The Cardinals rolled to a convincing 30-14 win in the opening game, then dropped Games 2 and 3, 30-20 and 30-24, before forcing a fifth and deciding match with a 30-25 victory in Game 4. Unfortunately, the Cardinals' rollercoaster ride — up, then down, then up again — hit rock bottom in that fifth game, as SMU managed just four points in falling 15-4.
All-Time Series Record: Despite last year’s five-set loss, the Cardinals maintain an 18-15-1 all-time record vs. the Auggies dating back to the 1976 season.
Playoff Picture: With three matches remaining in the conference season, the Cardinals enter tonight’s match in a three-way tie with St. Olaf and Carleton for fifth in the race for one of the six MIAC playoff berths. SMU dropped a 3-2 decision to St. Olaf on Oct. 8 and squares off against Carleton on Oct. 29. Augsburg, meanwhile, is one game back at 3-5, and holds the tie-breaker over St. Olaf with Wednesday’s 3-2 win, while Carleton beat the Auggies 3-0 earlier this season.
Cardinal Notes: Tonight’s match vs. Augsburg is SMU’s second of five straight home matches. The Cardinals opened the season with just one home match — a 3-0 win vs. Bethel on Sept. 27 — in its first 25 matches. … Wednesday’s win vs. St. Catherine was the Cardinals’ fifth in their last six matches. It was also the 10th 3-1 win of the season for SMU, which is 10-3 in four-set matches. … SMU’s victory over St. Catherine also snapped a four-match MIAC losing streak. …
Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.) and
Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.) led the Cardinals’ attack vs. St. Catherine, recording 13 kills each. They were two of four SMU players with at least 10 kills vs. the Wildcats. …
Theresa Perrini (
Fairway, Kan.) continued her record-setting run vs. St. Catherine, posting 25 digs to push her team-leading total to 567 and her school-record career total to 2,038. … Perrini leads the MIAC in digs (188) and digs/set (7.23). …
Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) is second in the conference in kills/set (3.73) and fourth in kills (97). … SMU posted a season-high 100 digs in its 3-1 loss to St. Thomas on Oct. 15. … The Cardinals boast five players with 100 or more kills — led by Gardner (272) and Mate (267), while SMU has six players with 100 or more digs. … The Cardinals are 0-3 vs. nationally ranked teams this season, having lost to No. 5 St. Thomas (3-1), No. 25 Saint Benedict (3-0) and No. 15 Concordia (3-0). … The Cardinals’ sweep at the UW-River Falls Invitational on Oct. 10-11 marked the second time this season the Cardinals have been perfect in tournament play — having also gone 4-0 at the season-opening Elmhurst Tournament.
Auggie Notes: Augsburg’s win over Bethel on Wednesday was its third straight win — and second straight 3-2 victory, having also outlasted St. Olaf on Oct. 15. … Augsburg's victory over St. Olaf snapped a 31-match losing streak to the Oles, which dated back to Sept. 25, 1989. … Augsburg has also won five of its last six matches, with a 3-0 loss to UW-River Falls the only blemish. … At 15-11, the Auggies have recorded the most wins for an Augsburg squad since 1998, when they went 17-11. … Breann Woelfel posted a match-best 16 kills and Katie Christensen chipped in 15 kills against Bethel Wednesday. The duo was two of four Auggies with at least 10 kills vs. the Royals. … Shanna Reed accounted for 43 of the team’s 52 assists vs. Bethel and currently leads the team with 844 assists. … Christensen boasts a team-leading 221 kills and his hitting .184, while Julie Jenkins is second with 216 kills. … In the Auggies match against Bethel,Jenkins passed the 600 career kill mark and became the only player in Augsburg school history to record at least 600 kills, 600 digs and 1,000 assists. … Dani Tanaka has accumulated 492 digs and is one of seven Augsburg players with 100 or more digs. … Eight of the Auggie’s 15 wins have come by 3-0 scores, while Augsburg is 3-3 in four-set matches and 4-3 in five-setters.