NORTHFIELD, Minn. - The sixth-seeded Saint Mary's University volleyball team had early leads in both the first and second sets but simply couldn't stop St. Olaf from coming back.

St. Olaf, the No. 3 seed, rallied in each of the first two sets, then swept the Cardinals out of the MIAC playoffs, 25-23, 25-21, 25-14 Tuesday night.

SMU (21-9), ranked fifth in the latest NCAA Division III Central Region poll, will have to wait and see if it will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament. The tournament field will be announced Monday.

The Cardinals started the first set on a 7-1 run before the Oles answered with eight unanswered points.

It was déjà vu in the second set as the Cardinals built an

11-6 lead before St. Olaf countered with seven straight points.

The Cardinals had a hitting percentage of .185 with 36 kills and 19 hitting errors. Entering the match, SMU lead the conference in hitting percentage at .249.

Senior Jessica Larson led the Cardinals with nine kills on 18 attempts with only one hitting error.

Jessica Mate added eight kills and Amy Kujak had seven.

St. Olaf's Kim Smisek, who twice this season was named MIAC hitter-of-the-week, added to her conference-leading kills total with 19.

The Oles (27-3) advance to play No. 2 St. Thomas on Thursday in the semifinals.