ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as the Cardinals head to Hamline's Hutton Arena for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Pipers.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-3 MIAC | 15-8 Overall) at Hamline Pipers (4-2 MIAC | 12-4 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals finished 3-1 at the North Central (Ill.) Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament last weekend in Naperville, Ill.). Saint Mary's beat No. 35 University of Chicago (3-1), North Park (3-0) and Wartburg (3-0), while falling to host North Central (3-0) | Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap
• Hamline: Hamline kept second place Augsburg on its toes all night Friday, before dropping a 3-1 conference decision at Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Hamline — A Year Ago:
• October 9, 2013: With both teams jockeying for post-season positioning, Saint Mary's coach Mike Lester expected his Cardinals' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against Hamline to be a knock-down, drag-out fight to the finish. And the Cardinals and Pipers didn't disappoint. Fortunately for Lester, it was his Cardinals that were doing the knocking down and dragging out, as Saint Mary's rebounded from a sub-par second set to take Sets 3 and 4 en route to a 3-1 conference victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals step out of conference play one last time this weekend, as Saint Mary's travels to Eau Claire, Wis. to take part in the UW-Eau Claire Invitational. Saint Mary's will face Northwestern and host UW-Eau Claire on Friday, before squaring off against St. Scholastica on Saturday.
• Hamline: The Pipers head to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday for nonconference matches against Coe and UW-Whitewater.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
The Cardinals are in the midst of an 11-match road swing. Saint Mary's does not return home again until Oct. 22, when they host St. Catherine in the first of four consecutive home matches to close out the regular season. … With their 3-1 showing at last weekend's Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament, the Cardinals improved to 12-4 in tournament play this season and moved to  28-7 in regular-season tournaments over the past two seasons. … Jenna Sullivan (Woodbury, Minn.) and Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn.) were named to the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament all-tournament team. … Sullivan finished last weekend's tournament with a team-leading 45 kills—including a career-best 15 vs. Wartburg last Saturday—and added 52 digs—including a career-high 23 against the University of Chicago last Friday. … Grover, meanwhile, tallied 25 kills and seven blocks. … Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) compiled a team-leading 61 digs last weekend, pushing her tam-leading dig total to 359. … Krogstad tallied a season-high 28 digs against Wartburg last Saturday, giving the junior seven matches of 20 or more digs. … Alex Peterson (Harmony,  Minn.) enters Wednesday's match at Hamline as the team leader in kills with 187. Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis. / 174), Kenzie Lind (Rushford, Minn. / 155), Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn. / 145), Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn. / 143) and Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn. / 124) have also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau. … Peterson tallied a season- and career-high 23 kills against UW-La Crosse on Sept. 10. … Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) and Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) both posted single-match career bests last Saturday—MacVey dished out 35 assists vs. North Park and Hanson posted 27 helpers vs. Wartburg. … MacVey has accumulated a team-leading and career-high 464 assists through 23 matches, while Hanson is close behind with 402. … Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) recorded a career-high 20 digs against UW-La Crosse on Sept. 10. … 10 of Saint Mary's 15 wins this season have been 3-0 sweeps. … The Cardinals' schedule includes matches against seven teams that have been ranked in the AVCA Top 25—St. Thomas, Colorado College, Clarkson, Saint Benedict, University of Chicago, and Augsburg. … Saint Mary's is  5-1 on their home court—the lone loss a 3-0 setback vs. Wartburg at the season-opening Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic.
 
Scouting The Hamline Pipers:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
Hamline's 3-1 loss to Augsburg last Friday snapped the Pipers' three-match winning streak. … HU's 26-24 Set 1 win vs. Augsburg marked the first time in eight years the Pipers won a set vs. the Auggies. … Hamline opened the season winning its first eight matches—six by 3-0 sweeps. It was just the second time in school history that the Pipers had opened the season 8-0. … Jena Meyer leads the Pipers with 118 kills, two more than Katie Ayres. Caitlyn is the third player with 100 or more kills through 16 matches, coming in with 108. … Amelia Jensen and Vassi Prattas have shared the setting duties this season—Jensen boasts a team-leading 329 assists, with Prattas close behind at 262. … Jensen also leads the team with 22 service aces, four more than Lynsey Reimer. … Hamline boasts three players with 100 or more digs, led by Reimer with 339. … Hamline enters Wednesday's home match against Saint Mary's with a 5-1 record at Hutton Arena. The Pipers are 7-3 on the road this season. … HU has won the first set in 13 of its 16 matches this season.