WINONA, Minn.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team closes out the regular-season portion of its 2014 schedule on Saturday, as the Cardinals entertain Gustavus—and bid farewell to their three graduating seniors—in a 3 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Match-Up:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-4 MIAC | 18-12 Overall) vs. Gustavus Gusties (5-5 MIAC | 11-13 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
GameDay Program | Senior Salute
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals locked up an MIAC playoff berth on Wednesday, getting a combined 10 blocks from Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) and Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) in a 3-0 victory over St. Olaf at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• Gustavus: The Gusties' quest for a post-season berth hit a snag on Wednesday, as Gustavus dropped a 3-0 conference decision to Bethel at Robertson Center in Arden Hills, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus—Their Last Meeting:
• October 26, 2013: The game plan was simple — win, and they're in. Achieving said plan, however, was anything but simple. Simple or not, Saint Mary's got the job done, as the Cardinals locked up a berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournament with a 3-1 win over Gustavus at Gus Young Court in St. Peter, Minn. | Recap
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: The Cardinals locked up a berth in the upcoming MIAC playoffs with its 3-0 win over St. Olaf on Wednesday. A win vs. the Gusties—and a Bethel loss to Saint Benedict—would give Saint Mary's the No. 4 spot in the six-team tournament and a home match in the tournament-opener next Tuesday.
• Gustavus: The Gusties are in a tie for sixth place in the conference standings alongside Concordia. With a win in their regular-season finale at Saint Mary's, the Gusties would earn the sixth and final spot in the MIAC playoffs. Even with a loss in the finale, Saturday losses by both Concordia and Hamline would also propel Gustavus into the playoffs.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
Saturday's match against Gustavus is the fourth straight home contest for the Cardinals, who are 7-2 on their home court this season. … With their win over St. Olaf on Wednesday, the Cardinals locked up their second straight berth in the conference tournament—and will be making their 10th post-season appearance in coach Mike Lester's 17-year tenure. … With their seventh win of the season—a 3-0 win over UW-Superior on Sept. 19—Lester earned his 300th collegiate coaching win. The Cardinal head coach heads into Saturday's regular-season finale vs. Gustavus with 311 coaching wins in 17 seasons. … 
 
For the second match in a row, Saint Mary's boasted three players with 10 or more kills vs. St. Olaf Wednesday. Jenna Sullivan (Woodbury, Minn.) and Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) each recorded 11 kills vs. the Oles, while Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn.) chipped in 10. … Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.)—who recorded a season-high 15 kills against Augsburg last Saturday—recorded six blocks against St. Olaf. … Nordick ranks No. 2 all-time in total blocks with 413 (15 shy of record-holder Vicki Wilson) and block assists with 314 (17 back of Wilson). … 
 
 
Fadness enters Saturday's regular-season finale against Gustavus with a team-leading 235 kills. Nordick (210), Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn. / 196), Alex Peterson (Harmony,  Minn. / 187), Kenzie Lind (Rushford, Minn. / 184), Urban (180) and Sullivan (143) have also eclipsed the 100-kill plateau. … Peterson tallied a season- and career-high 23 kills against UW-La Crosse on Sept. 10. … Sullivan posted a career-best 18-kill effort against Northwestern (Minn.) on Oct. 17, and notched a career-high 23 digs against the University of Chicago on Oct. 10. … Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa), who posted her top two collegiate assist performances at the UW-Eau Claire Invitational on Oct. 17-18—recording a career-best 42 assists against host UW-Eau Claire, then adding a 36-assist showing against St. Scholastica—leads the team with 594 assists, while Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) has chipped in 561 helpers. … Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) pushed her team-leading dig total to 475 with 13 digs against St. Olaf on Wednesday. … Krogstad, who tallied a season-high 28 digs against Wartburg on Oct. 11, has posted 20 or more digs in a match 10 times this season. … Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) recorded a career-high 20 digs against UW-La Crosse on Sept. 10. … Twelve of Saint Mary's 18 wins this season have been 3-0 sweeps. … The Cardinals have faced seven teams this season that have been ranked in the AVCA Top 25. The Auggies enter their match vs. Saint Mary's ranked No. 25 in the latest poll. Saint Mary's has also faced nationally ranked foes St. Thomas, Colorado College, Clarkson, Saint Benedict, and the University of Chicago. … The Cardinals finished 12-7 in tournament play this season and are now 28-10 mark in regular-season tournaments over the past two seasons.
 
Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
Wednesday's loss to Bethel was the second straight for the Gusties, who are 2-2 in their last four matches. … The Gusties' 3-0 loss to the Royals marked just the fifth time in 24 matches this season GAC has been swept in a match. … Alyssa Taylor finished with a team-best 13 kills and hit .375 against the Royals Wednesday. … Taylor has reached double-figure in kills in each of the team's last five matches, while hitting .400 or better in four of those five contests. … Taylor heads to Saint Mary's Saturday owning a team-best 269 kills, while Becca Woodstra (201), Kelle Nett (137), Taylor Trautman (132), Sammy Kremer (123), and Janessa Jahnke (118) have also recorded 100 or more kills this season. … Marissa Morgan dished out 31 assists vs. the Royals Wednesday and has now distributed 30 or more assists in the Gusties' last four matches. … Morgan, who has amassed 767 assists through 24 matches, finished with 39 assists in Gustavus' loss to Saint Ben's last Saturday—her highest mark since a career-high 57-assist night against St. Olaf on Oct. 8. … Gustavus boasts three players with 25 or more aces. Taylor leads the way with 27, followed by Morgan and Paige Breneman with 25 each. … Breneman and Abby Leitch lead the team with 411 digs apiece. … Breneman has recorded 1,831 digs in her collegiate career, ranking second in Gustie volleyball history, sitting behind Emily Klein's record total of 2,329 digs from 2005-2008.