St. Paul, Minn. – The Saint Benedict volleyball team suffered a tough 3-2 loss tonight (Nov. 9) to No. 4 ranked St. Thomas in the MIAC Championship. The Blazers finished the season with a record of 26-3 and 20 sweeps, along with a 9-2 conference record and a runner-up place spot in the MIAC.
 
The Blazers started the night with a 25-19 win in the first set, but followed it up with a 25-10 loss in the second. From there, the Blazers came back with a 25-16 win in the third to take a 2-1 lead. The Tommies then responded with a 25-15 win to tie the match at 2-2 after four. They then pushed through the fifth set to take an 15-11 win to finish the night.
 
The Blazers played very hard, looking for a win against the only MIAC team they haven't beaten this season. After a 2-1 lead, the Blazers looked as if they would take the upset win for the MIAC championship, but the Tommies came back hard taking the two final sets.
 
In the first set, The Blazers jumped out to an early 9-5 lead and kept a solid lead through the rest of the set and finished with a 25-19 win. The second set started very close until the Tommies went on a 10-to-4 run to take a 17-9 lead.
 
From there, the Tommies went on an 8-to-1 run to finish with a 25-10 win.
 
The third set started very close again with 3-3 and 5-5 ties early. The Blazers then went on a 5-to-1 run to take a 13-7 lead and slowly extended their lead until they finished with a 25-16 win.
 
In the fourth set, the Tommies jumped out to a 14-5 lead and controlled the remainder of the set until they finished with a 25-15 win.
 
The fifth and final set once again started close and the two teams were tied a 4-4 before the Tommies went on a 6-to-1 run to take a 10-5 lead. The Blazers fought back to bring the score to 11-10 with the Tommies still in the lead. The Tommies then took four of the last five points to finish the set with a 15-11 win and a MIAC championship.
 
Lexi Alm led the team offensively with 13 kills and Lexi Rinde followed with 12 more. The Tommie defense held the Blazers to a hitting percentage of just .099 on the night while the Blazer's defense stayed solid throughout the night and held the Tommies to a team hitting percentage of .185.
 
Victoria Nass led the defense with an astonishing 38 digs to set a personal high. Lexi Alm and Taya Kockelman both added another 11 digs and Kockelman finished with 38 assists on the night. Mary Franz also added five blocks to the defense's success and Kockelman and Sophie Stangl added another four.
 
The Blazers must now wait until Monday to find out their NCAA Tournament fate, as the NCAA will announce the field of 64 during the selection show at 10 a.m. live on NCAA .com.