St. Joseph, Minn. - The No. 8 Saint Benedict volleyball team picked up another sweep tonight (Oct. 16), earning its 20th win of the season.
 
The Blazers (20-2, 5-2 MIAC) defeated visiting St. Olaf (7-16, 1-6 MIAC) in a swift 3-0 match, jump-starting a run of five straight conference matches to close out the regular season.
 
Saint Benedict hit the court running as they took down the Oles 25-15 in the first set. The Blazers put up some impressive numbers, hitting .414 in the set while holding St. Olaf to a .000 attack percentage. They ran out to a 4-1 lead and never looked back. The Oles were able to get within one at 7-6, but that was as close as it would get, as the Blazers rattled off five straight to take a 12-6 lead, and led by at least five the rest of the way.
 
The Blazers made quick work of St. Olaf in the next two sets with wins of 25-10 and 25-14. They hit their highest percentage of the night in the second, putting up a .469 mark at the net with 18 kills against just three errors.
 
Saint Benedict put up nearly 50 kills in the win with 25 of them coming from Lexi Alm (Forest Lake, Minn.) and Sophie Stangl (Buffalo, Minn.). Alm led the Blazers with a season high 15, while hitting .519, and Stangl had 10 kills with a .600 hitting percentage. After tonight's match, Alm has 1,212 career kills and is just 11 away from sixth place on the CSB all-time charts.
 
The Blazer defense had three players hit double digits in digs. Chelsea Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn.) led the Blazers with 15 and was closely followed by Victoria Nass (Faribault, Minn.) with 12. Alm earned her ninth double-double of the season, producing 10 digs.
 
With the win tonight, head coach Nicole Hess earns her 85^th at CSB in under for seasons, hitting the 20-win mark for the second straight time. In her career, she closes in on the 150-win mark, collecting her 149^th tonight.
 
The Blazers return to action back at home this Saturday, hosting Gustavus at 3 p.m., Oct. 19 in Claire Lynch Hall.