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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University volleyball team had so much fun coming from behind in Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Carleton, the Cardinals decided to do it again Friday.

Just days after rallying from behind in two of the three sets of Wednesday's 3-0 victory over the Knights, the Cardinals were in a rallying mood against Friday in their opening match of the Cardinal Invitational against Central (Iowa).

Only this time, SMU's come-from-behind efforts started with a Set 1 loss.

The Cardinals, who fell 25-20 in the opening set, used that loss as a wake-up call, rattling off three convincing wins to beat the Dutch 3-1 in the Gostomski Fieldhouse.

Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, recording a match- and career-high 23 kills, while also hitting .300. Peterson's effort marked the first time this season an SMU player cracked the 20-kill barrier. Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) also had a stellar tournament-opener, banging out 11 kills, while hitting a team-best .391.

Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) finished with a season-high 50 assists — three shy of her collegiate-best 53- assist effort against UW-La Crosse on Sept. 2, 2011 — while Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) accounted for 27 of SMU's 81 digs.

The Cardinals (13-5 overall) are back in action on Saturday, when they square off against Augustana and the University of Dubuque during the final day of the two-day Cardinal Invitational.