WINONA, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team entertained Concordia in the teams' regular-season Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match in early October, the Cardinals made it look easy, using a 14-0 run to start the second set and an 8-0 burst to end the third to put away the Cobbers 3-0 at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Fast-forward one month, and the Cardinals and Cobbers were back on the Saint Mary's Gym floor—with a berth in the MIAC Playoff semifinals on the line.
 
The end result was another 3-0 Cardinal victory—but it was anything but easy.
 
"That was a great college volleyball match," said Saint Mary's coach Mike Lester, whose team will now travel to St. Peter, Minn., on Thursday to square off against regular-season champion and top-seeded Gustavus. "I wouldn't say we played an outstanding match, but we were really, really solid.
 
"When it got late in the set, we were nearly flawless—we didn't make any mistakes late (in sets) and that was really the difference in the match."
 
And Lester wasn't kidding—the Cardinals ability to come up with the big points late in each of the three sets was the deciding factor.
 
The Cardinals opened with a 25-22 win in the opening set—a set that included 10 ties, including 22-22, before Saint Mary's rattled off three unanswered points for the 25-22 victory.
 
It was more of the same in the second set, as Concordia built the biggest lead of the entire match—9-3—and held an 18-14 advantage before Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) sparked a 7-0 run that put the Cardinals out front 21-18. CC knotted things up at 21-21 and 22-22—and held a 23-22 edge—before Saint Mary's scored the final two points of the set for a 25-23 victory.
 
The third set was yet another see-saw affair early—with nine ties as the two teams battled to a 10-10 stalemate. From there, however, the Cardinals seemed to take control, grabbing a four-point, 16-12 advantage, only to have the Cobbers cut the gap to two twice—the last time at 18-16. That would be as close as Concordia would get, as Saint Mary's outscored the Cobbers 7-4 down the stretch to ice the 25-20 Set 3 victory.
 
And send the Cardinals to the conference playoff semifinal for the third straight year.
 
"This team was not to be denied tonight," said Lester, whose Cardinals improved to 20-9—marking the third straight season, and eighth time in his coaching tenure, that Saint Mary's has reached the 20-win plateau. "They came through with some huge swings when we needed them most—and were rewarded for those efforts."
 
Cassidy Bittle (Winona, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, collecting nine kills and three blocks, while Jenna Sullivan (Woodbury, Minn.) and Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) each chipped in eight kills. Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) and Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) each recorded 15 assists and Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) led three Cardinal players in double figures with 16 digs. Sullivan and MacVey each added 13 digs—giving MacVey her team-leading sixth double-double of the season.
 
Anna Skow-Anderson and Olivia Wangensteen notched nine and eight kills, respectively, for the Cobbers (15-11 overall), who were making their 14th trip to the MIAC Playoffs in the last 15 years. Mandy Mercil chipped in 18 assists and 10 digs, and Korbyn Ross added 17 digs.