COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team hits the road this weekend, traveling to Colorado College to take part in the two-day, Colorado College Classic.
 
The Colorado College Classic Field:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-1 Overall), East Texas Baptist Tigers (1-3 Overall), Tufts Jumbos (0-0 Overall), Colorado College Tigers (4-0 Overall), Clarkson Golden Knights (3-1 Overall),
 
The Colorado College Classic Schedule:
Friday, September 5 (Times MST):
East Texas Baptist vs. Saint Mary's, 11 a.m.; Saint Mary's vs. Tufts, 1 p.m.; E. Texas Baptist vs. Colorado College, 3 p.m.; Clarkson vs. Tufts, 5 p.m.; Clarkson vs. Colorado College, 7 p.m.
Saturday, September 6 (Times MST):
Clarkson vs. E. Texas Baptist, 10 a.m.; Saint Mary's vs. Colorado College, Noon; Clarkson vs. Saint Mary's, 2 p.m.; E. Texas Baptist vs. Tufts, 4 p.m.; Tufts vs. Colorado College, 6 p.m.
 
Cardinals' Last Action:
Saint Mary's went 3-1 in its season-opening four matches at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic. The Cardinals opened with 3-0 wins over the University of Dubuque, North Park and Illinois Wesleyan, before falling to Wartburg 3-0 | UD Recap | NP Recap | IWU Recap | Wartburg Recap
 
Cardinals Up Next:
Saint Mary's is back on the road on Wednesday, as Saint Mary's heads to La Crosse, Wis., for a 7 p.m. nonconference match against UW-La Crosse.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
With their 3-1 showing at the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic last weekend, the Cardinals improved to 19-4 in regular-season tournaments over the past two seasons. … Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) were named to the Ground Round Sugar Loaf Classic All-Tournament team. … Fadness led the Cardinals in kills in three of their four tournament matches last weekend and finished with a team-best 39 kills (3.25 kps). … Krogstad collected 54 digs en route to her all-tournament honor. … Kenzie Lind (Rushford, Minn.) chipped in 28 kills, while Mary Nordick (Plymouth, Minn.) added 25 and Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) tallied 24. … Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) and Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) shared the setting duties in Saint Mary's four tournament matches last weekend, with MacVey delivering 67 assists, while Hanson finished with 49. … As a team, the Cardinals finished with 15 service aces last weekend, led by MacVey with five and Hanson with four. … All three of Saint Mary's wins last weekend were 3-0 sweeps. … The Cardinals, who made their first MIAC playoff appearance since 2010 a year ago — 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.
 
Scouting The East Texas Baptist Tigers:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Tigers are coming off a 1-3 showing at the University of Dallas Tournament last weekend, falling to Trinity (3-0), Hendrix (3-1) and Southwestern (3-2), while also posting a 3-0 victory over host University of Dallas. … Two of ETBU's three losses last weekend were against ranked opponents — No. 13 Trinity and Southwestern, which received votes in the latest AVCA poll. … Mallory Sanders banged out a team-best 58 kills in the Tigers' four matches last weekend, while Adaeze Elonu chipped in 37, Kailey Cavanaugh added 32, and Madelynn Kinsel and Kolby Sharp tallied 23 and 22, respectively. … Sharp is coming off an All-American season in 2013, becoming the first player in program history to earn the AVCA honor. … Kayla Taylor and Nicole Buzzard shared the setting duties last weekend, with Taylor dishing out 87 assists and Buzzard recording 70. … Hannah Jones boasted a team-high 97 digs last weekend, while Elonu had a hand in 20 of the team's 32 blocks. … ETBU won 32 matches in 2013 and reached the American Southwest Conference tournament championship match, falling in five sets to Hardin Simmons. … The Tigers' 32 wins last season were the second-most in conference history.
 
Scouting The Colorado College Tigers:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Tigers — who jumped from No. 8 to No. 7 in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll — are coming off a perfect 4-0 showing at their first home tournament of the season last weekend, as CC beat Blackburn (3-0), UM-Morris (3-0), Simpson (3-0) and Oswego State (3-0). … Freshman setter Sarah Barker — who dished out 121 of the team's 164 sets in its four tournament matches last weekend — is the only first-year player to play in all 12 sets and start in all four matches this season. … Courtney Birkett was named the Offensive Player of the Week by the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference after compiling a team-best 42 kills (3.50 kps) and hitting .333 in four matches last week. … Sophie Merrifield finished with a team-best 55 digs last weekend. She was one of five Tigers with at least 10 digs in CC's four tournament matches. … The Tigers held their opponents to a .022 attack percentage, allowing 93 kills on 371 attempts, while forcing 85 errors in 12 sets last weekend. … CC out-blocked its four tournament opponents 28-7 last weekend. … Colorado College made it to the national quarterfinals of the 2013 NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship last season.

Scouting The Tufts Jumbos:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
This weekend's matches of the first of the season for the Jumbos, who are coming off a 20-8 season and a berth in the NESCAC Tournament semifinals a year ago. … Tufts returns a pair of all-conference performers in Isabel Kuhel and Hayley Hopper. Kuhel led the team with 253 kills last season, while Kuhel was second with 201. Mary Maccabee (171), Elizabeth Ahrens (160) and Jessica Ingrum (155) also recorded more than 150 kills a year ago. … Kyra Baum accounted for 857 of the team's 994 assists in 2013, while Carolina Berger and Hopper led the team in service aces with 42 and 37, respectively. … The Jumbos boasted three players — Berger (347), Kyra Baum (275) and Hopper (229) with 200 or more digs. … Ten of Tufts' 20 wins last season were 3-0 sweeps. The Jumbos were 5-4 in four-set matches and 5-1 in five-setters. … Tufts finished 2013 with an 11-2 record on their home court, while going 9-6 away from home.
 
Scouting The Clarkson Golden Knights:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Golden Knights — ranked No. 17 in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll — head into the weekend having won three of their four matches at their home invitational last weekend. Clarkson beat Simmons (3-0), SUNY-New Paltz (3-0) and Roger Williams (3-1), while falling to No. 1-ranked Calvin (3-2). … Clarkson put together a program-record 19-match winning streak en route to a 36-7 record a year ago. … Clarkson lost three AVCA All-Americans (Xiao Liang, Lani Durio, and Erika Chin) from last year's team that reached the NCAA quarterfinals for the second straight season. … The Golden Knights do return three first-team all-conference performers in Adrienne Walker, Aishvina Arasu and Victoria Kirkemo. … Kirkemo and Arasu led the way for the Golden Knights last weekend at the Clarkson Classic, each banging out a team-best 52 kills. … Kirstie Shurie dished out 155 of the team's 179 assists last weekend, while Evanne Jimenez tallied a team-leading 64 digs. … Clarkson serviced up 21 aces in four tournament matches last weekend, led by Walker and Kristen Orlandini with five each. … Clarkson lost a total of six sets in 35 matches against regional opponents — and just one set in 14 matches vs. conference foes last season.