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Last Nonconference: After another big 3-1 road win against Bethel, the Saint Benedict volleyball team has brought their record up to 18-2 and are still ranked No. 10 in the country. The win also brought their conference record up to 4-2 as they face off against Luther, Saturday Oct. 12 in Claire Lynch Hall at 3 p.m. This will be their only remaining non-MIAC match for the rest of the season. The Blazers will be looking for their fifth consecutive win to push them into their five-game MIAC stretch.
 
About the Norse: With a record of 13-12, the Norse will be coming out looking to stay above the .500 mark after losing four of their last six matchups, trying to end their late season skid before it's too late. One of those two wins in the past six games came over Bethel, and much like the Blazers, they walked away with a 3-1 win. After going 15-17 last season, the Norse were tabbed for a fourth place finish in the IIAC preseason poll, and with eight matches left to play, are already just two wins shy of last season's total. Hannah Wilson returns for her junior season, after earning All-IIAC honors last season, and currently is averaging 2.13 kills per set. Natalee Johnson leads the offense with 3.16 kills per set, while Lindsey Ryan runs the offense with 10.05 assists per set.
 
Last Meeting: The two teams last played in 2011, with the Blazers taking a 3-0 win on the road in Decorah, Iowa. The Blazes won with set scores of 25-22, 25-20 and 25-20 respectively, hitting .303 for the match. Chelsea Sobieck (Wyoming, Minn.) led the team with 13 kills, while Lexi Alm (Forest Lake, Minn.) added eight with a .412 attack percentage. The Blazer defense held the Norse to a .196 attack percentage, including a .083 mark in the second set. The win was the second in a five-match winning streak late in the Blazers' season.
 
The Storyline: Both of these team's very recent 3-1 wins against Bethel show how close this matchup could turn out. The Norse will be looking for the win to stay over the .500 mark and avoid another losing streak this late in the season. The Blazers will also be fighting just as hard to get a heavy momentum swing as they move on to finish their season with five MIAC games. Another question is can the Blazers cap a perfect run through nonconference competition? The Blazers only two losses this season have come from Augsburg and St. Thomas, a pair of conference opponents each ranked in the top-25. Their last regular season nonconference loss was way back on Sept. 8 last season, when they fell in five to UW-Stevens Point.
 
Who to Watch: Junior setter Taya Kockelman (Minneota, Minn.) is the NCAA leader for another week, averaging 11.98 assists per set at the time of this week's report. Since however, she put up a career high 54 assists in a win over Bethel, and has raised her NCAA and MIAC leading average to 12.08. As a team the Blazers also lead the NCAA in kills per set at 14.41, and they are led by Lexi Rinde (Minnetonka, Minn.) who ranks 58th in the country and fourth in the MIAC with 3.70 kills per set. Rinde is also hitting .374 at the net, a mark that is second in the MIAC and 16th in the nation. Since taking over as the Blazer's libero this season, Chelsea Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn.) has averaged a 3.92 digs per set, a mark that ranks 11th in the MIAC. She has posted 20 or more digs in each of the last two matches, including a season high 23 on Wednesday against Bethel.
 

Taya Kockelman	Lexi Rinde	Chelsea Rachel

Last Time Out: In their last time out, the Blazers set a new season high with 65 kills on the night as they took a 3-1 win over Bethel. Rinde led the Blazers as she tied her career high of 19 kills while Alm added another 12 and Sophie Stangl (Forest Lake, Minn.) contributed 10 more. Kockelman also set a new career high with 54 assists, which beat her previous mark by two. The Blazers broke another season high against Bethel with 85 digs, breaking the 80-mark for the first time this season. Rachel hit the 20-mark for the second game in a row and Alm set her season high for the second game in a row with 18, giving her a double-double for the eighth time this season.