WINONA, Minn. — Nothing came easy for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team Wednesday evening.
Fortunately for coach
Mike Lester, easy or not, the Cardinals found a way to collect their fifth Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win in six tries.
Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) hammered out a team-high 17 kills—one shy of her season best—as the Cardinals outlasted St. Olaf 3-2 at the Saint Mary's Gym.
The Cardinals made it look easy in the first and third sets, blasting the Oles 25-15 and 25-14. Problem was, it was the Oles who had the upper hand in the second and fourth sets—dropping Saint Mary's 25-20 in the second, and outlasting the Cardinals 28-26 in the fourth to force the fifth and decisive set.
The Cardinals scored 10 of the first 15 points in the fifth set, but St. Olaf would not go down without a fight, pulling to within one on four separate occasions—the final one at 14-13—before a Peterson kill sealed the hard-fought win.
Peterson was one of three Cardinals to reach double figures in kills, with
Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) adding 13 and
Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn.) chipping in 10.
Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) also played a key role in the Cardinal win, coming off the bench to chip in nine kills and hit .571.
Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) and
Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) each eclipsed the 20-assist plateau, as Hansen dished out 29 helpers and MacVey finished with 20.
Jenna Sullivan (Woodbury, Minn.) finished with a team-best 22 digs, three more than
Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.)
Megan Grimes delivered a match-high 20 kills and Kersten Bork collected 41 assists in the losing effort for St. Olaf (0-6 MIAC, 8-13 overall).
The Cardinals (5-1 MIAC, 16-3 overall) are back in action this weekend, taking part in the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament in Naperville, Ill. Saint Mary's opens with matches against host North Central and Coe on Friday, before squaring off against 11th-ranked Carthage and the nation's top ranked team, Washington (Mo.) University, on Saturday.