The St. Catherine University volleyball started the 2015 with a solid 5-2 record winning five of its last six, but knew it would have its work cut out heading into Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play. Despite an attempt at a third-set comeback, the Wildcats couldn't overcome a tough start in falling 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-19) to Saint Mary's University Wednesday evening in Winona, Minnesota. 

"Ball control was out biggest issue tonight," said Head Coach Corey Phelps. "We were not able to stay in our system. Saint Mary's was relaxed and aggressive all night and we were caught off guard. This was another good match to learn from for our young players."

The Wildcats opened the first set matching the Cardinals nearly point-for-point, but eventually allowed the Cardinals to rattle off five-straight points before they closed out the set with seven-straight points. The second set started with the Cardinals stringing together several sets of points before pulling away for the win. 

The third set started in favor of the Wildcats as they took an early 6-3 lead. However, the Cardinals slowly took away the Wildcats' momentum and pulled away to hand the Wildcats a loss to open conference play. 

Leading the way for the Wildcats was sophomore Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn./Anoka) who recorded a team-high five kills and added five digs to help defensively. Alyssa Besch (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) added to the offense with four kills and one block assist. 

Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn./Jefferson) anchored the Wildcats' back line collecting a team-high nine digs which helped her surpass the 1,000-dig mark for her career. Bailey Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) came into the third set to add five digs, while Abby Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes) had four. 

Maria Davis (West St. Paul, Minn./St. Agnes) took the main responsibility of setting up the offense with eight assists, while first-year Johna Radke (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) added five. 

The Cardinals were led offensively by Macki Fadness and Alex Peterson who recorded 10 and nine kills, respectively. Brittney Hanson collected a match-high 21 assists and Jenna Sullivan picked up a match-best 15 digs. 

With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 5-3 on the season and 0-1 in the MIAC. They return to tournament action Friday at the Ripon College Tournament and face host Ripon at 3 p.m. before taking on St. Norbert College at 5 p.m. in Ripon, Wisconsin. 

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