ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — For the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team, all it took was a first-set wake-up call.
 
After being dominated in the first set of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against Saint Benedict, the Cardinals flexed their muscles, rattling off three straight wins—including a come-from-behind 26-24 win in the fourth set—to seal a 3-1 victory over Saint Benedict Friday evening.
 
"This was a great win for us," said Saint Mary's coach Mike Lester. "We did not play well in the opening set, but put that (set) behind us and really came through.

"A ton of credit has to go to Sara Lind and Molly Urban—they came up huge for us tonight."

The Cardinals, who suffered their first conference loss of the season last Saturday—a 3-0 setback to St. Thomas that snapped Saint Mary's 10-match winning streak—struggled getting out of the game against the Blazers, falling 25-9 in the opening set.
 
From there, however, it was all Saint Mary's, as the Cardinals evened the match with a 25-21 win in the second set, took a 2-1 lead with a 25-19 victory in Set 3, then completed the victory with a triumph in the fourth set—a set in which the Cardinals rallied from a 22-18 deficit, rattling off eight of the next 10 points for the 26-24 win.
 
Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, finishing with 16 kills, while Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn.) chipped in 11 kills and Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn.) chipped in 10. Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Minn.) and Lillian Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) shared the setting duties, posting 22 and 19 assists, respectively, while Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) delivered a team-high 21 digs. Blattner and Hanson each finished with double-doubles for the Cardinals, as Blattner added 14 digs to her 16 kills, while Hanson finished with 13 digs to go along with her 22 assists.
 
The Cardinals (3-1 MAC, 15-2 overall) are right back in action on Saturday, traveling to Moorhead, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference showdown against Concordia.