WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team kicks off the 2014 season at home this weekend, as the Cardinals host the eight-team Sugar Loaf Classic.
 
The Sugar Loaf Classic Field:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2013: 24-9 Overall), University of Dubuque Spartans (2013: 12-21 Overall), Wartburg Knights (2013: 26-12 Overall), UW-La Crosse Eagles (2013: 15-15 Overall), Gustavus Gusties (2013: 11-20 Overall), Illinois Wesleyan Titans (2013: 12-20 Overall); North Park Vikings (2013: 11-23 Overall), St. Catherine Wildcats (2013: 8-22 Overall)
 
The Sugar Loaf Classic Schedule:
Friday, August 29, 2014 • Gostomski Fieldhouse • Winona, Minn.
Court 1: Saint Mary's vs. U. of Dubuque, 2 p.m. | St. Catherine vs. North Park, 4 p.m. | Saint Mary's vs. North Park, 6 p.m. | St. Catherine vs. U. of Dubuque, 8 p.m.
Court 2: Wartburg vs. UW-La Crosse, 2 p.m. | Gustavus vs. Illinois Wesleyan, 4 p.m. | UW-La Crosse vs. Illinois Wesleyan, 6 p.m. | Wartburg vs. Gustavus, 8 p.m.
Saturday, August 30, 2014 • Gostomski Fieldhouse • Winona, Minn.
Court 1: St. Catherine vs. Illinois Wesleyan, 10 a.m. | Saint Mary's vs. Illinois Wesleyan, Noon | St. Catherine vs. Wartburg, 2 p.m. | Saint Mary's vs. Wartburg, 4 p.m.
Court 2: UW-La Crosse vs. North Park, 10 a.m. | Gustavus vs. U. of Dubuque, Noon | Gustavus vs. North Park, 2 p.m. | UW-La Crosse vs. U. of Dubuque, 4 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats (Court 1) | Tournament Homepage | Video Preview | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
This weekend's matches are the season opener for all eight teams competing.
 
Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic — A Year Ago:
Scoreboard & Results
 
SMU vs. The Sugar Loaf Classic Field — Their Last Meetings:
vs. University of Dubuque — October 5, 2013:
The Cardinals certainly didn't make things easy on themselves in their opening match of Day 2 at the Cardinal Invitational against the University of Dubuque. As hard at the Cardinals tried, they could not shake the pesky Spartans. So the Cardinals took a different approach — rather than shaking Dubuque, they just outlasted them, beating the Spartans 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 for the 3-0 victory | Recap
vs. North Park — October 11, 2013:
For the fifth time in as many tournaments, Saint Mary's got off to a roaring start, as the Cardinals cruised to a 3-1 victory over North Park to kick off the North Central (Ill.) Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament in Naperville, Ill. After cruising to 25-10 and 25-18 wins in the first two sets against North Park, the Cardinals hit a bit of a bump in the road with a 27-25 setback in the third set. But SMU was right back at full speed in the fourth set, winning 25-13 Set 4 win to seal the victory over the Vikings | Recap
vs. UW-La Crosse — September 11, 2013:
For the first two sets of their nonconference match against UW-La Crosse, Saint Mary's made it look easy — as the Cardinals steamrolled the Eagles 25-17, 25-17. From there, however, "easy" was not in the Cardinals' vocabulary. But "win" was, as the Cardinals rebounded from a 25-21 Set 3 setback and outlasted UW-L 27-25 in the fourth set to seal the 3-1 victory at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
vs. Illinois Wesleyan — August 30, 2002:
It's been 12 years since Saint Mary's and Illinois Wesleyan have squared off. Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) collected a match-high 20 kills and Saint Mary's cruised to a 30-21, 30-19, 30-18 win over Illinois Wesleyan in their last meeting during the opening day of the Elmhurst Tournament in Elmhurst, Ill. | Recap
vs. Wartburg — September 7, 2012:
The opening day of the Bethany Lutheran Tournament did not go quite the way Saint Mary's coach Mike Lester had hoped, as the Cardinals fell to both UW-Superior and Wartburg. After dropping a 3-0 decision to the Yellowjackets to open tournament play, things did not get much better in its second match, as Saint Mary's was swept by Wartburg 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 26-24) | Recap
vs. Gustavus — 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
vs. St. Catherine — October 18, 2013:
Saint Mary's motto has been simple all season: Take the season one match at a time. And if coach Mike Lester was concerned that his Cardinals would stray from that motto and, rather than focus on their showdown against St. Catherine, focus on their matchup with 15-ranked Augsburg a day later — the Cardinals put those worries to rest in a hurry. The Cardinals, fueled by Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) and Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.), wasted no time dispatching of the Wildcats 3-0 Friday evening at Butler Center in St. Paul, Minn. | Recap
 
Cardinals Up Next:
Saint Mary's heads west next weekend, traveling to Colorado Springs, Colo., to take part in the Colorado College Classic. The Cardinals will face Tufts, East Texas Baptist, Colorado College and Clarkson during the two-day event.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2013 Final Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Cardinals boasted a pair of First-Team All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selections in 2013— Lexi Assimos (Northbrook, Ill.) and Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.). … The Cardinals, who made their first MIAC playoff appearance since 2010 — closed out the season with 24 wins, the second-most in program history. … SMU's 24 wins were the most since the Cardinals won 27 en route to their first-ever MIAC regular-season title and a berth in the NCAA Division III national tournament in 2000. … The Cardinals have won 20 or more matches seven times under coach Lester. … The Cardinals reached the MIAC Playoff semifinals for the first time since 2008, when SMU opened post-season play with a 3-2 win over Saint Benedict. … Thanks to their 1-1 showing in the MIAC playoffs, the Cardinals finished 16-4 on the road this season. … Peterson closed out her first season as a Cardinal in style, as the sophomore outside hitter equaled her career high with 23 kills against top-seeded and fourth-ranked St. Thomas in the playoff semifinal. … Peterson's 23 kills against St. Thomas on Nov. 7 and vs. Central (Iowa) on Oct. 4 were the most by a Cardinal last season and the most since Kara Grant recorded 26 kills against Clarke on Sept. 30, 2011. … Peterson recorded 10 or more kills 30 times in SMU's 33 matches a year. … Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) and Kenzie Lind (Rushford, Minn.) also put together career-high kill performances this season. Nordick notched a career-best 19 kills against Wheaton (Ill.) on Oct. 12, while Lind has recorded a career-best 17 kills twice — against North Central on Oct. 12 and vs. Concordia on Sept. 28. … Peterson closed out the season with a team-leading 423 kills, while Lind (276) and Nordick (252) also recorded 200 or more kills. …  Assimos closed out her final year in a Cardinal uniform with a single-season career-high 1,197 assists. … Assimos, who has posted 1,000 or more assists twice in her four-year collegiate career, currently ranks No. 2 all-time with 3,263 career assists. … Assimos' 51 assists against UW-Oshkosh on Oct. 11 were not only a season high — one more than the 50-assist effort against Central (Iowa) on Oct. 4 — but just two assists shy of her career-best 53-assist showing against UW-La Crosse on Sept. 2, 2011. … Assimos recorded 40 or more assists 11 times last season and 31 times in her collegiate career. … After recording 502 digs as a freshman in 2012, Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) shattered that mark a year ago, posting a team-leading 559 digs — giving the sophomore libero 1,061 career digs in her two years in a Cardinal uniform. … Krogstad's 559 digs last season rank No. 4 all-time. … Brooke Schilling (Altura, Minn.) posted a career-best 18 digs in SMU's MIAC semifinal match against St. Thomas, while Molly Grover (Zumbrota, Minn.) recorded a career-best 10 digs against Concordia two days earlier. … Krogstad is one of four Cardinals who finished with 200 or more digs last season — Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill. / 292), Assimos (295) and Jordan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 262) were the others. … Wolfe equaled her career best with a team-best 16 digs against Hamline on Oct. 9. … SMU finished the year with 159 aces last season — led by Thomas with 40 and Assimos with 38. … Saint Mary's 31-29 Set 2 win against Concordia on Nov. 5 was the longest set of the season for the Cardinals. … The Cardinals won the first set in 21 of their 24 wins and 24 times in 33 matches a year ago. … The Cardinals' win over Concordia in their MIAC playoff opener was their 14th 3-0 sweep of the season. On the flip side, SMU was swept just three times last season. … The Cardinals' 3-1 loss to Macalester on Sept. 24 snapped their school record-tying 11-match winning streak. … Saint Mary's lost back-to-back matches just once all season. … Saint Mary's 3-2 loss to Wheaton (Ill.) at the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament on Oct. 12 snapped the Cardinals' 13-match regular-season tournament winning streak. … Saint Mary's finished with a 16-3 record in its five regular-season tournaments in 2013.
 
Scouting The St. Catherine Wildcats:
2014 Roster | 2013 Final Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Wildcats are coming off an 8-22 season, which included a 1-10 record in the MIAC. … SCU dropped its final seven matches of the 2013 season. … St. Catherine did not have a senior on its roster a year ago. The Wildcats enter this season with
Jana Christensen closed out 2013 as the team leader in kills with 202, while Abigail Palmer (185), Zoe Peterson (165), Amber Zeiher (161) and Maddy Mullins (138) all eclipsed the 100-kill plateau a year ago. … Peterson hit a team-best .195 last season, with Zeiher close behind at .188. … Karsee Knutson owned a team-high 594 assists (6.06 aps) and shared the lead in aces (28) with Ashley Kahlow. … Knutson recorded a career-high 60 assists in a 3-2 win over Carleton on Oct. 9. It was not only the most by an MIAC setter last season, but also the most by a Wildcat setter since Whitney Sparby recorded 66 assists on Sept. 10, 2005. … St. Catherine had four players collect 200 or more digs in 2013, led by Shanee Herd and Shelby Rachel with 439 and 349 digs, respectively. … Six of St. Catherine's eight wins last season were 3-0 sweeps. The Wildcats' other two victories came in five sets — SCU was 0-8 in four-set matches a year ago.
 
Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2014 Roster | 2013 Final Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Gusties enter 2014 coming off an 11-20 campaign a year ago that included a 4-7 mark in the MIAC. … Alyssa Taylor was Gustavus' top offensive performer in 2013, culminating her first year as a Gustie by earning First-Team All-MIAC honors. … Taylor appeared in all 31 matches — and 116 of 117 sets — leading the team with 350 kills. … Taylor became the first Gustie to reach the 350-kill plateau since 2011, when Angela Ahrendt recorded 378. … Taylor, who recorded 10 or more kills in 18 matches a year ago, also led the team with a .249 attack percentage and finished with a team-leading 119 blocks. … Taylor Meurer owned a team-leading 582 assists a year ago, while Kendra Weege was second on the team with 364 helpers. … Gustavus boasted four players with 20 or more aces in 2013, led by Paige Breneman (34), Haley Zweber (33) and Kelle Nett (30). … Breneman also led the team in digs with 568, while Zweber (272), Becca Woodstra (212) and Kendra Weege (206) also recorded more than 200 digs last season. … Six of the Gusties' 11 wins came on their home court, where Gustavus finished with a 6-6 record. … Gustavus went 8-7 in matches that went at least four sets — including 4-5 in five-set matches — but the Gusties were just 3-13 in matches decided in three sets.
 
Scouting The University of Dubuque Spartans:
2014 Roster | 2013 Final Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Spartans head to the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic coming off a 12-21 season in 2013 that included a 2-5 mark in Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play — and a third straight trip to the IIAC Tournament. … Klaudia Basierak was named First Team All-IIAC for the second straight year in 2013. … Basierak finished the 2013 season with a team-high 366 kills, 1,234 attack attempts, 367 points, and 14 double-doubles. … Basierak's 25 kills in a regular season finale win at Simpson were tied for the highest single-match kill total in the IIAC last season. Basierak also set a school record in the Simpson match with 80 total attacks. … Basierak enters 2014 owning three of the top 12 single-game kill totals in the Iowa Conference. … Basierak was one of five U. of Dubuque players to record 100 or more kills in 2013 — Amy Tranel (192), Brianna Bautsch (163), Anna Runge (148) and Jen Pohlman (102) were the other four. … As a team, the Spartans collected 177 aces a year ago, led by Olivia Larson with 29 and Basierak with 28. … Maggie Schmidt recorded a team-leading 626 assists last season, while Hannah Zieser chipped in 369. … Morgan Werkheiser collected a team-leading 343 digs a year ago, with Basierak and Schmidt each chipping in 285. … Three of the Spartans' 12 wins came on their home court — UD was 2-8 on the road and 7-9 on neutral-site courts. … Five of UD's 12 wins went the maximum five sets. The Spartans were just 4-13 in three-set matches and 3-6 in four-setters.
 
Scouting the Wartburg Knights:
2014 Roster | 2013 Final Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Knights are coming off a 26-12 season a year ago that included a berth in the NCAA National Tournament, where they fell to 19th-ranked UW-Stevens Point in five sets. … Wartburg captured the IIAC regular-season and tournament titles in 2013. The conference tournament crown was the Knights' second straight and fifth in program history. … Wartburg's 2013 NCAA tournament berth was its eighth in program history. … The Knights enter 2014 without the services of graduated senior and team MVP Ramey Sieck. The IIAC MVP, Sieck also earned First-Team All-Region and Honorable-Mention All-American honors during her senior year, when she collected 234 kills, hit .306, dished out a team-best 1,249 assists, tallied 47 service aces, and posted 389 digs. … Maddie Forsyth finished with a team-best 415 kills a year ago. Forsyth was one of three Knights to record 300 or more kills last season — Bailey Wilson (367) and Kelly Niemann (331) were the other two. … Wilson joined Sieck as a First-Team All-Region and Honorable-Mention All-American a year ago. … Karly Brown recorded a team-best 73 service aces in 2013, while Marissa Shinstine was the team's dig leader with 551. … Wartburg compiled an impressive 18-2 record in three-set matches a year ago. The Knights were 7-6 in matches that went four sets, but one just once in five, five-setters. … Wartburg posted a perfect 7-0 record en route to its regular-season conference title last season.
 
Scouting the UW-La Crosse Eagles:
2014 Roster | 2013 Final Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Eagles enter 2014 having finished 15-15 a year ago — including a berth in the WIAC Tournament, where they dropped a 3-0 decision to UW-Eau Claire in the third-place match. … UW-L will be without the services of graduated senior Lauren Probst, who earned First-Team All-WIAC in 2013, becoming the Eagles' first first-team selection since 2009. … Probst appeared in all 30 matches for the Eagles a year ago, leading the team with 350 kills. … Probst recorded double-digit kills in 19 matches last year, including a season-high 20 vs. Wartburg on Sept. 6. … Probst was one of four Eagles to eclipse the 200-kill plateau — Crystal Ziegler (285), Jill Entinger (247) and Kayla Ashland (206) were the others. … Probst also led the team with 30 aces, two more than Courtney Geisler. … Cassie Raduka amassed a team-high 1,172 assists, while Geisler owned a team-high 395 digs. … UW-La Crosse played six five-set matches in 2013 — going an impressive 5-1. The Eagles were 7-8 in three-set matches and 3-6 in four-setters. … UW-L finished 4-2 on its home court in 2013, going 11-13 away from home.
 
Scouting the North Park Vikings:
2014 Roster | 2013 Final Statistics | 2014 Schedule
North Park enters this season after compiling a 12-23 record a year ago, including a sixth-place finish in the CCIW — the Vikings' highest conference finish since 2000. … The Vikings kick off the 2014 season minus graduated senior Shelby Switzer, who earned All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Second Team honors in 2013, becoming the only volleyball player ever at NPU to achieve four-straight All-CCIW selections. … Switzer led the team with 573 kills (4.8 kps), ranking her among the top 10 in all of NCAA Division III. … Switzer closed out her career at North Park as the all-time kills leader with 1,736. She is also only the second player ever to notch both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs (1,327) in a career. … Neisha Bolian and Hayley Brake finished second and third to Switzer in kills, finishing 2013 with 294 and 233 kills, respectively. … Abigail McKowen accounted for all but 102 of the team's 1,277 assists, finishing with 1,175 helpers in 34 matches. … Switzer compiled a team-leading 49 aces, while Christine Scott (28), Bolian (27), Julia Bakken (26), Alexis Clay (24) and McKowen (21) also collected 20 or more aces a year ago. … North Park boasted five players with 200 or more digs a year ago, led by Clay with 433 and Switzer with 353. … Five of the Vikings' 11 wins last year came on their home court, where North Park finished 5-5. The Vikings were just 6-18 on the road in 2013.
 
Scouting the Illinois Wesleyan Spartans:
2014 Roster | 2013 Final Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Titans enter the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic on the heels of a 12-20 season a year ago. … Illinois Wesleyan opens 2014 without the services of graduated senior setter Erin Wachtel, a Third Team All-CCIW selection a year ago. … Wachtel boasted a team-leading 1,059 assists in 2013 and finished her career ranked No. 4 all-time with 3.421 assists. … Maddie Greybar closed out 2013 with a team-best 315 kills. She was one of five Titans to collect 100 or more kills a year ago. Morgan Howard (276), Kinzie Schweigert (234), Cydnee (Mann (156) and Watchtel (100) were the other four. … Loryn Bruer led the team with 36 aces, four more than Wachtel, while also recording a team-high 408 digs. … Greybar was second on the team with 356 digs and Howard posted a team-best 66 blocks. … Nine of Illinois Wesleyan's 12 wins came on the Spartans' home court. The Titans were 0-8 in road matches and 3-5 in contests played an neutral sites.