WINONA, Minn. – Opening day could not have gone better for the 2026 Saint Mary's volleyball (2-0) team. The Cardinals kicked off their annual Sugar Loaf Classic, presented by Toppers, finishing 2-0 on the day by taking down Crown College 3-0 and winning a thrilling five-set victory over UM-Morris.
SMU 3, CC 0
It was all Cardinals, all game. They held the Polars to a negative attack percentage in all three sets.
An early 5-0 run that was aided by two Kali Olson kills helped the Cardinals take an early 6-2 lead over the Polars. Her sister Ayla Olson sparked the later run with two service aces, and tough defense extended the lead to 14-8.
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It was no comparison, as the Cardinals' 16 kills compared to just four pushed a 25-13 set one victory.
The second set was the same; while just 11 kills for the Cardinals, it was their defense that proved the difference. An early 7-0 run with two tough serves from Lavin LeJeune and two kills from Kaia DePaolo sparked the energy.
LeJeune went on to have five aces in the game. The Cardinals won 25-11.
The Polars could not stop the threat of Kali Olson as she went on to lead all scorers with 11 kills in the game, with the Cardinals holding the Polars to a score of 25-15 in set three.
Kali Olson, Maddie Baker, and Brianna Hanneken each had two blocks.
SMU 3, UMM 2
To cap the night off, the Cardinals battled a tough Cougar squad.
Morris struck first, limiting the Cardinals to just eight kills in set one, taking a 25-17 first set. The loss was the perfect ammunition that the season is officially here.
The Cardinals forced an early timeout by the Cougars when they jumped out to an 8-2 lead in set two with LeJeune at the service line and Kali Olson on the front lines. The pair accounted for five of those eight points.
Back-to-back kills by Hanneken kept the momentum going, pushing the lead to 12-6. The defense finished the set out 25-20.
Set three was a back-and-forth battle as eight lead changes kept the momentum going. Again, Hanneken capped the set with back-to-back kills on a hot hand, 25-20.
After dropping a close set four, 25-22, the Cardinals knew it was now or never.
The Cardinals found themselves down 10-4 early, but the crowd started to get into it. It may have just fueled the team.
Baker came up big with three blocks this set, and the Olson sisters had the hot hand this time. Facing set point and down by three, it did not rattle the team.
At 14-11, the Cardinals did not feel the pressure; three kills in a row from Ayla Olson would tie the score at 14.
The defense did the rest and took set five, 17-15.
The Cardinals will face UW-Superior at 11 a.m. tomorrow and finish the tournament weekend against Wisconsin Lutheran at 3 p.m. in the David R. Theis Arena.
