Volleyball 10/11/06 -- St. Mary's 3, Augsburg 1 (30-22, 21-30, 30-25, 31-29)

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (10/11/06) -- Molli Dant (Sr., Forest City, Iowa) collected a match-high 19 kills and 14 digs, while Pam Stanton (Fr., Mundelein, Ill./Carmel HS) had 14 kills, 16 digs and six service aces, as St. Mary's University claimed a four-game victory over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference volleyball match Wednesday night at Si Melby Hall.

The Cardinals (8-13 overall, 3-6 MIAC) won the match by scores of 30-22, 21-30, 30-25, 31-29. The Cardinals rallied from a 16-9 deficit to score the match-clinching win in the fourth game.

Augsburg (7-14 overall, 1-7 MIAC) was paced by a triple-double from Julie Jenkins (So., Edina, Minn.), who collected 11 kills, 19 assists, 13 digs, four blocks (one solo) and four service aces. The effort was her first career triple-double and also marked the seventh time this season she has recorded double-figures in assists and digs, while also recording four or more kills.

Dani Boner (So., Omaha, Neb./Mercy HS) recorded her eighth kill-dig double-double of the season, with 14 kills and 21 digs for the Auggies.

St. Mary's was effective from the service line, collecting 14 aces in the match, including six from Stanton and five from Ashley Karl (Sr., Auburndale, Wis.). Meanwhile, Augsburg had nine aces in the match -- four from Jenkins and three from Katie LaGrave (Jr., Okinawa, Japan/Kadena HS).

St. Mary's pulled out to a 21-13 lead in the first game, with a stretch of three aces in a row by Stanton. Dant had five kills in the first game, while Stanton had four kills.

Augsburg sprinted to a lead in the second game, leading 23-8 before St. Mary's trimmed its deficit late in the set. Jenkins and Breann Woelfel (Fr., Annandale, Minn.) had four kills apiece for the Auggies in the second frame.

Another big early lead provided the momentum for the winners in the third game, as St. Mary's led 17-9, and Augsburg was unable to cut the advantage under four points the rest of the set. Stanton had five kills and Dant had four kills in the game.

Augsburg took an early 11-4 lead in the fourth game and eventually extended the advantage to 16-9 and 21-15, before St. Mary's rallied to win the match. Dant had five kills in the third game for the Cardinals, while Stanton and Ashley Wendlandt (Jr., Litchfield, Minn.) had four kills each.

Wendlandt had seven kills and seven blocks in the match, while Jessica Larson (Fr., Pine Island, Minn.) had nine kills and two blocks (one solo). Kelsi Scanlon (So., Cologne, Minn./Chaska HS) had six kills, five blocks and 15 digs; Brenna Benham (Fr., Deer River, Minn.) had 44 assists, 11 digs and four blocks; and Theresa Perrini (So., Fairway, Kan./Bishop Miege HS) had 24 digs.

For Augsburg, Woelfel collected 11 kills, with seven digs. LaGrave had seven kills and three blocks; Shanna Reed (Fr., Eagan, Minn./Holy Angels HS) had 21 assists and seven digs; Haley Bower (Jr., Brainerd, Minn.) had 21 digs, and Tina Quick (Jr., Blaine, Minn./Centennial HS) and Dani Tanaka (Fr., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) had 10 digs each.

Both teams are in nonconference action this weekend. Augsburg competes in three matches at the Cornell (Iowa) Quadrangular on Saturday (10/14), while St. Mary's has three matches at Minnesota-Morris over the weekend, starting on Friday (10/13) with a 7 p.m. match against Crown.