The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team (18-5 overall, 4-1 MIAC) suffered its first loss in conference play to St. Mary's on a controversial call in the fifth set this evening.

Both teams played strong and competitively from the start in a hard-fought five sets.  They exchanged point for point to start the match, with tied scores at 10, 15 and 19 before the Blazers inched ahead of the Cardinals to win 25-20.

SMU controlled a majority of the second set, jumping a 10-6 and 16-10 lead over CSB.  Behind 20-16, the Blazers crept back but couldn't make up the difference, losing 25-23.

The third set was nearly identical to the second, with a 25-18 Blazer loss as the Cardinals continued to put on the pressure.  CSB, however, dominated the fourth set, holding SMU to a mere .029 hitting percentage and winning 25-16.

The fifth set was a battle from the start, both teams digging deep as CSB had a .450 hitting percentage while SMU hit.440 in the scramble.  The first few points were even as the score was tied at six before the Cardinals jumped ahead 10-7.  The Blazers came back to tie it at 10.  They pulled ahead 15-14 with only one point to win, but things got tricky.  CSB passed a third ball over the net, and the referee claims to have blown his whistle, thinking the ball would not make it over.  However, it crossed the net, and play continued as SMU lost the point.  The Blazers believed they had won 16-14, but the referee called a replay because of the whistle, which no one heard on the court.  CSB went on to lose 17-15 after the debatable call.

The Blazers had a high .278 hitting percentage as senior Emma Jaynes (Hibbing, MN, Hibbing) led the way with 20 kills and 16 digs.  Junior middle hitter Calleigh Brown (Buffalo, MN, Buffalo) contributed 16 kills and 6 blocks, while junior right side hitter Kayli Schumacher (East Grand Forks, MN, Sacred Heart) had 12 kills.  Senior setter Beth Hanson (Faribault, MN, Bethlehem Academy) had 57 assists as senior libery Andrea Millerbernd (Littlefork, MN, Littlefork-Big Falls) led with 17 digs.

CSB travel to St. Paul, Minn., next week to take on the University of St. Thomas on Wed., Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.  The match will be played at Concordia-St. Paul.

Box Score