St. Joseph, Minn. – The Saint Benedict volleyball team won a tough five set-match tonight (Sept. 12), holding on for the win over visiting Augsburg in the MIAC opener tonight.

The Blazers improved their record to 7-3 with a 3-2 win, as the Auggies record fell to 7-3.

The Blazers started out strong with a 5-0 lead in the first set and kept a solid lead the whole way, winning 25-15. In the second set, Augsburg took a 6-1 lead early and kept it until the very end when the Blazers came back and tied the set at 19. The Blazers eventually also took the second set, 25-23.  

Augsburg took a 10-3 lead in the third, and kept a significant lead the whole game, before taking the set 25-18. In the fourth, after taking the first point, the Blazers went down 9-3. The Auggies kept the lead for the rest of the set and went on to win 25-18.

The fifth set stayed close early, before the Blazers pulled ahead 10-5. They were then able to hold onto the lead, finishing with a big win, 15-8, to take the match.

Lexi Alm paved the way for her team with 19 kills and second best mark of her career. The only matches better came in the first weekend of the season, where she twice hit the 20-kill mark.

Joining Alm, it was the sophomores who helped lead their team to victory, as Sophie Stangl gathered 14 kills and three solo blocks while Alexa Rinde also added 14 kills. Fellow sophomore Taya Kockelman tied a career best set assist mark with 50, connecting on nearly 35 percent of her attempts.

In the back row, sophomore Victoria Nass led the way with 27 digs, coming up huge on several rallies to keep play alive. The MIAC dig leader, Nass already had 238 this season.

The Blazers held the Auggies to a season low.107 attack percentage with a -.026 and .074 in the first two sets and a -.143 in the fifth set.

The Blazer's return to the court this weekend for the Simpson Invitational with four games, beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Friday Sept. 14 against Coe College in Indianola, Iowa.

Volleyball v. Augsburg Gallery