St. Joseph, Minn. -- The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team won their 21st game of the season today, cruising to a three-set victory (25-20, 25-20, 25-15) over the Gustavus Adolphus Gusties. The win is Head Coach Nicole Hess' 150th career NCAA win, and her 86th at the helm for the Blazers, also guiding the Blazers to back-to-back 20-win seasons, for the first since 2007 and 2008.
 
The Blazers jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead, winning the first set 25-20. They got 11 kills combined from the two Lexi's as Lexi Rinde (Minnetonka, Minn.) finished with six, and Lexi Alm (Forest Lake, Minn.) had five en route to finishing with 18 kills a team in the set.
 
The second set featured big runs by both teams. After losing the first point the Blazers went on a six-point run that featured two service aces from Alm. That run brought the score to a 6-1 Blazer lead. Those two service aces were part of four that Alm had on the day, improving her MIAC-leading service aces per set to 0.64 on the year.
 
With the Blazers up 15-9 the Gusties went on a five-point run of their own to bring the score within one at 15-14. The Blazers went on to win the set 25-20, capped off by a clutch service ace from Chelsea Rachel on set point.
 
In the third set the Blazers were ready to wash their hands of the Gusties. They hit .364 and never trailed during the set, winning it 25-15. Alm had five kills in the set and on her way to 13 on the day. She hit .423 in the match, topping the .400 mark for the second straight game, and added 11 digs for her second straight double-double, her 10th of the season.
 
Rinde also added 13 kills and continues to approach 1,000 career kills, improving her career number to 949.
 
As a team the Blazers hit .304 in the match, the seventh time this season they have hit north of .300. They also had 51 kills, their second-highest kill total in a three-set match this year.
 
With the win the Blazers improve to 6-2 in the MIAC and maintain their fourth-place position in the conference standings. The added a little cushion over a trio of teams in fifth place, moving two games ahead of Saint Mary's, Hamline and Macalester, who are all 4-4.
 
The Blazers return to action this Wednesday (Oct. 23) when they will travel to St. Paul to take on the Pipers of Hamline University. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.