RIPON, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team entered the Ripon Red Hawks Invitational riding a season-high five-match winning streak—including a 4-0 run through the St. Catherine Invitational last weekend, and a conference-opening 3-0 win over St. Catherine on Wednesday.
 
And try as they might, Alverno and the University of Dubuque could do nothing to cool the Cardinals off.
 
Saint Mary's continued its winning ways Friday afternoon, picking up back-to-back wins in the opening day of the two-day tournament, sweeping past Alverno 3-0, before dropping the University of Dubuque 3-1.
 
The Cardinals made quick work of their first opponent of the tournament, cruising to a 3-0 win over Alverno. Saint Mary's opened with a convincing 25-10 win in the first set, and never took their foot off the gas, winning 25-7 in Set 2 and 25-18 in the sweep-clinching third set.
 
Brittney Flom (Kenyon, Minn.) picked up a team-best 12 kills and hit a whopping .706 to lead the Cardinal offense against the Infernos. Tara Nagy (Oak Lawn, Ill.) chipped in eight kills, while Maddie Hess (Lewiston, Minn.) dished out a match- and career-high 30 assists, and Nagy chipped in a team-leading 12 digs.
 
Saint Mary's dominated the opening set against the University of Dubuque, winning comfortably, 25-11. The Cardinals dropped Set 2, 25-23, before rebounding with 25-17 and 26-24 wins in the third and fourth sets to seal their seventh straight win.
 
Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) led the Cardinals' offense, racking up a team-best 16 kills, while Lexi Barth (Byron, Minn.) added 13. Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Minn.) chipped in a double-double with 20 assists and 16 digs, with Lilly Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) adding 22 assists.
 
The Cardinals (11-1 overall) are back in action on Saturday, squaring off aginast Lawrence at 10 a.m. and hoist Ripon at 2 p.m. during the second day o fthe Ripon Red Hawks Invitational