ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Victoria Nass is a constant presence for the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team.
The senior libero from Faribault, Minn., leads the team in digs and digs per set, and can be counted on to dig up balls and keep points in play for the Blazers.
The 5-foot-4 defensive specialist played an especially large role for CSB last week in a pair of MIAC sweeps. She paced the Blazer defense in digs and came up with several big-time digs in the final points of a 3-0 sweep of rival Augsburg, and hit double digits in digs again Saturday afternoon against St. Catherine.
For her big week, Nass has been named the Blazer Athlete of the Week. This is the first weekly honor for Nass, who was named the team’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2013.
Nass started her big week with a 31-dig performance against No. 24 Augsburg in Claire Lynch on Sept. 24. She came up big in crunch time for the Blazers, and had two huge digs in a volley that lasted more than a minute and saw the ball cross the net 17 times before Mary Franz blocked an Augsburg kill to tie the third and final set at 24. Nass served that point and the next to put CSB ahead, 25-24, and Saint Ben’s eventually pulled away for a 27-25 win to complete the sweep.
Nass had nine digs in the third and final set and 11 in both the first and second sets for her three-set total of 31. Her 31 digs fell shy of her school record of 38, set in 2013 against St. Thomas.
After her 30-plus dig game against Augsburg, Nass followed up with 16 digs against St. Kate’s Saturday afternoon in St. Paul, Minn.
Nass currently leads the Blazers and is fourth in the MIAC with 304 total digs. She is also sixth in the league with 5.24 digs per set.
The Blazers return to action at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, when they host Saint Mary’s. Saint Ben’s also plays at home at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, when it hosts Carleton College.
