WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team kicks off its season Friday and Saturday, Sept. 2-3, hosting the eight-team Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic.





Tournament Field:
Saint Mary's Cardinals, Luther Knights, UW-La Crosse Eagles, Loras Duhawks, St. Thomas Tommies, Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves, Finlandia Lions, St. Scholastica Saints

Tournament Schedule:
Friday, Sept. 2 — Court 1: Saint Mary's vs. UW-La Crosse, 2 p.m.; Loras vs. St. Thomas, 4 p.m., Saint Mary's vs. Finlandia, 6 p.m., St. Thomas vs. Nebraska Wesleyan, 8 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 2 — Court 2: Luther vs. Nebraska Wesleyan, 4 p.m.; Luther vs. UW-La Crosse, 6 p.m.; Loras vs. Finlandia, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 3 — Court 1: Saint Mary's vs. Loras, 10 a.m.; Nebraska Wesleyan vs. St. Scholastica, Noon; Loras vs. Nebraska Wesleyan, 2 p.m.; Saint Mary's vs. Luther, 4 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 3 — Court 2: Finlandia vs. UW-La Crosse, 10 a.m.; St. Thomas vs. UW-La Crosse, Noon; Finlandia vs. Luther, 2 p.m.; St. Thomas vs. St. Scholastica, 4 p.m.

Sugar Loaf Classic — Looking Back
2010 / 2009 / 2008 / 2007

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats/Video (All Court 1 Matches) | 2011 Classic Results | Tournament Program | Video Preview

Cardinals Up Next:
SMU is back in action on Sept. 9-10, as the Cardinals take to the road, traveling to Beverly, Mass., to take part in the two-day Endicott College Invitational.

Saint Mary's Cardinals At The Net:
2011 Roster | 2010 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
The Cardinals are coming off a 2010 season in which they went 21-10 overall, including a 7-4 mark and a fourth-place finish in the MIAC. … The Cardinals made their third straight MIAC Tournament appearance in 2010 and hosted their first post-season match since the 2001 season. … The Cardinals 21-10 record marked the second straight season — and 10th time in the program's history — that they eclipsed the 20-win barrier. … The Cardinals finished 2010 8-4 on their home court. … SMU graduated seven seniors from last year's squad, including two-time honorable-mention All-American Sarah Gardner. Gardner, who collected 10 or more kills in nine straight matches and 25 times this season — closed out her senior year with a single-season career-best 429 kills. She was just the sixth player in SMU volleyball history to record 400 or more kills in a season. … Gardner also finished her illustrious four years at SMU with 1,419 career kills, 62 kills shy of Diane Wood for second all time. … Jessica Mate also completed a stellar senior season, recording a single-season career-best 354 kills, while boasting 10 or more kills in eight straight matches and 20 times this season. … Mate finished No. 6 all-time in career kills with 1,306. … Brittany Cherwinka, just one of two SMU setters with 3,000 or more assists in a career, finished the season with 870 assists and closed out her four-year SMU career with 3,164. She ranks second to Amber Rajtora (4,578) in career assists. … Cherwinka recorded eight 40-plus assist matches this season. … Amy Kujak (River Falls, Wis.), a First-Team All-MIAC selection, had 272 kills a year ago to give SMU three players with 200 or more kills. Kujak also led the team in attack percentage at .303. … SMU finished with five players with 20 or more aces, led by Gardner with 47 and Kujak with 35. … … Six of SMU's 10 losses came against nationally ranked teams. … The Cardinals lost the first set in each of their 10 losses. … Twelve of SMU's 21 wins were 3-0 sweeps. … With their 2-2 finish at the North Central (Ill.) Invitational on Oct. 15-16, the Cardinals finished 2010 with a 13-3 record in the four regular-season tournaments they appeared in.

St. Thomas Tommies At The Net:
2011 Roster | 2010 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
In 2010, St. Thomas finished 31-7 overall, shared the MIAC championship, won the NCAA region playoff championship and tied for fifth at the NCAA Division III national tournament. … St. Thomas has won or shared the MIAC title in seven of the last nine seasons. … The Tommies enter Sugar Loaf Tournament play ranked 10th in the 2011 AVCA Division III preseason poll. St. Thomas has been nationally ranked for 71 of the last 72 consecutive polls. … UST graduated seven seniors of its 2010 roster, including setter Emily Foster — the conference's first three-time All-America volleyball player. A two-time conference Player of the Year, Foster surpassed 5,500 career assists to rank No. 2 in MIAC history. … Junior libero Kaitlin Wachler (1,469 digs in 254 career games), leads a group of 12 returning varsity or JV players. Other varsity returners include sophomore hitters Nicole Potts and KariAnne Nass, and sophomore middle blocker Mackenzie Piechowski. … UST has made its mark on the national and conference scene in Coach Thanh Pham's first eight seasons. Pham's .787 win percentage (216-57) ranks fifth nationally among active Division III coaches. Over the last six seasons, St. Thomas has the eighth best won-loss record out of 350-plus teams in Division III. The Tommies' 172-37 record since 2005 includes a 76-9 record vs. conference opponents.

St. Scholastica Saints At The Net:
2011 Roster | 2010 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
The College of St. Scholastica is coming off a 28-7 season in 2010, including going 14-0 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) action. … CSS captured its first outright regular season title since the 1988 season and went undefeated in league play for the first time since 1984. The Saints' season came to an end with a loss in the UMAC Tournament Championship to Northwestern College. … The Saints lost just one senior from last year's squad and has only one senior this year (Libero-Nikki Hughes). … Leading the Saints in 2011 is reigning UMAC Player of the Year Paige Hardy, who was named to the Sugar Loaf Classic All-Tournament Team a year ago. … Also returning are all-conference performers Anna Zyvoloski and Sarah Kurtovich.

UW-La Crosse Eagles At The Net
2011 Roster | 2010 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
The Eagles are coming off an 11-18 season in 2010, including a 3-5 mark WIAC play. … UW-L, which returns eight letterwinners, was tabbed to finish sixth in the WIAC preseason coaches poll. … UW-L will play its first eight matches away from Mitchell Hall in 2011 ... Kayla Ashland and Katie Gunderson return after finishing with at least 200 kills each in 2010. Gunderson finished with a team-best 214 kills (2.35 kps), while Ashland chipped in 202 kills (2.00 kps). ... Ashland, who earned All-WIAC honorable-mention recognition last season, also led the squad with 0.47 blocks per contest. ... Liz Schlobohm enters her final season as an Eagle sitting sixth in career assists at UW-L with 2,692. Schlobohm dished out 829 assists during the 2010 campaign. ... Head coach Sheila Perkins enters her 24th season overall and 18th with the Eagles needing 13 victories to reach 500 in her career and 15 wins away from 400 at UW-L.

Loras Duhawks At The Net:
2011 Roster | 2010 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
Loras is coming off a 26-9 season in 2010. They are the defending Iowa Conference champions after going 7-1 in the league a year ago. … Head coach Teresa Kehe eclipsed the 100-win mark last season when the Duhawks swept Wisconsin Lutheran on October 16. … The Duhawks were 12-3 on neutral courts in 2010. … Forty-nine percent of Loras' 2010 kills are back on the roster in 2011. All-IIAC and All-Region picks Kate Russell and Brittney Westermeyer, who were 1-2 in kills last season — accounting for a combined 709 kills — have completed their time in a Loras uniform. … Loras' 2010 leaders in assists (Julie Rogers, 987), digs (Regan Riley, 446) and aces (Julie Rogers, 41) all return to the court for the Duhawks in 2011. … Two-thirds of the Duhawks' 2011 roster is comprised of first-year players in the program.

Luther Norse At The Net:
2011 Roster | 2010 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
Luther begins a new era under first year head coach Danielle Kohut. Kohut takes over a squad that went 17-17 a year ago, including a 4-4 mark in the IIAC. … The Norse return nine letterwinners from a year ago, including All-Iowa Conference first-teamer Hannah Walker, who led the team in kills (431), kills-per-set (3.59) and attack percentage (.202). … Lindsey Weaver, who was an honorable mention all-conference performer as a libero last season, recorded 567 digs in 2010 and ranks third all-time for career digs by a libero with 1,279. … Eleven of Luther's 17 wins came by 3-0 scores. On the flip side, nine of the Norse's 17 losses were 3-0 sweeps. … Luther played just four five-set matches in 2010, going 2-2.

Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves At The Net:
2011 Roster | 2010 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
The Prairie Wolves are coming off a 23-6 campaign in 2010 in which they qualified for the NCAA Division III national tournament for the seventh straight season. … NWU's 23 wins were the most since the 1998 season. … NWU closed out 2010 ranked No. 22 in the final AVCA poll, and just missed entering 2011 ranked in the AVCA Top 25. The Prairie Wolves received 40 total points and were the second team in the others receiving votes in the 2011 AVCA Preseason Poll. … NWU will face three teams that are ranked in the AVCA Top 25 uring the nonconference portion of their schedule. The Prairie Wolves will play No. 10 St. Thomas twice — including this weekend at the Sugar Loaf Classic — and will also square off against No. 14 Concordia-Moorhead and No. 16 St. Olaf. … The Prairie Wolves return three starters off last year's national tournament team. … NWU will take the court this weekend without two-time All-American Laura Brammeier, who closed out her career with a team-best 374 kills in 2010 — giving her 1,235 kills in her four-year collegiate career. Brammeier also compiled 1,102 career digs, making her just the fifth player in NWU history with 1,000 or more kills and digs.

Finlandia Lions At The Net:
2011 Roster | 2010 Overall Statistics | 2011 Schedule
Finlandia — a member of the Association of Division 3 Independents (AD3I) — is coming off a 7-24 season a year ago. … The Lions are the only private NCAA Division III institution in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. … Finlandia returns only two letter-winners from the 2010 team — Lauren Jarvinen and Mallory Torola. … Head coach Mary Kaminski was also a former head coach at both Michigan Tech (NCAA Division II) and Northeastern (NCAA Division I). … Finlandia played three schools ranked in the AVCA Top 25 a year ago, including second-ranked Emory.