Match Summary / GameDay Preview

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Saint Mary's University volleyball coach Mike Lester will be the first to admit that Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener against Augsburg wasn't the prettiest of performances.

But then again, you don't get any extra credit for style points. All that matters is the final score — and pretty or not, Lester's Cardinals left the Augsburg Gym with a convincing 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-15) victory.

“It wasn't our best performance of the season, but the bottom line is, we got the win — and in this conference, very win is important,” said Lester, whose team hit just .100 on the evening, but took advantage of 11 service aces in snapping a three-match losing streak against the Auggies. “We had a specific game plan coming into this match — we wanted to serve aggressively and then see what happens.

“For us to get 11 aces in three sets, I'd say we accomplished that goal,” Lester added. “The rest just became a knock-down, drag-out conference battle.”

Sarah Gardner (Rochester, Minn.), coming off her second all-tournament performance last weekend at the Wartburg Invitational, collected a match-high 13 kills and hit .333 to lead the way for the Cardinals, while Brittany Cherwinka (Faribault, Minn.) finished with 26 assists and Jessica Mate (St. Charles, Ill.) delivered 11 digs and three aces.

“It's nice to go on the road, against a good team, and coming away with a 3-0 win,” said Lester, whose team is now off until next Wednesday, when the Cardinals play host to nationally ranked St. Thomas in a 7:30 p.m. conference contest at the SMU Gym. “Hopefully we can use this bit of a break to get a little rest, get healthy and be ready for another tough conference match against St. Thomas next week.”