ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Hunter Weiss made history for the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team last season as a sophomore after becoming the program’s first First Team All-American in 25 years.
Wednesday evening in Claire Lynch, she etched her name in the program’s record books once again.
Heading into Wednesday’s MIAC match against Hamline, Weiss needed 10 kills to reach the 1,000-kill milestone. She finished the night with 16, and became the 14
th player on the school’s 1,000-kill list. For her performances throughout the week and securing her place in program history, Weiss is this week’s CSB Athlete of the Week.
Weiss – who has 294 kills so far this season and 1,023 in her career – is the first CSB volleyball player to reach the 1,000-kill milestone since 2013. She is already up to 13
th on the school’s list of kill leaders, and has the potential to move up even farther before the season is over. Robyn Ruschmeier ’99 still holds the school record with 1,771 kills in her career from 1995-98.
Not only did Weiss’ 16 kills Wednesday push her over a career milestone, it helped CSB seal a MIAC win over the Pipers. After notching her 10
th kill of the match – and 1,000
th of her career – in the fourth set, Weiss quickly added three more in succession to help CSB tie the set, and eventually take control of the fourth set for a 26-24 win to force a fifth and final set, which the team won. She also had three block assists and two total blocks, along with six digs. Weiss was just as good Saturday in the team’s 3-1 win at St. Scholastica. She led the team with 17 kills, hit .400 for the match and added four block assists to her weekly total.
Prior to Saturday’s game, Weiss was in the top 55 in Division III in total kills and kills per set (3.64). She is also eighth in the nation with a .421 hitting percentage, and 26
th with 77 total blocks. She leads the MIAC in kills per set, is second in hitting percentage and third in total kills. She is also sixth in the league with 1.01 blocks per set.
Weiss and her teammates have a quiet week before another big weekend of conference play. In its first weekend home series of the season, CSB hosts Carleton at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, and Gustavus at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26. With four games left in the regular season, Saint Benedict is tied for second in the MIAC standings with Augsburg and the Gusties with 5-2 records. St. Thomas leads the league at 7-0.
