St. Joseph, Minn. - The Saint Benedict volleyball team put a wrap on a perfect opening weekend today (Aug. 31) with 3-0 wins over UW-Eau Claire and Northland to move to 4-0 on the year.

The No. 19 ranked Blazers were the only team to run through the CSB Labor Day Tournament unbeaten, and won all four of their matches by sweep. After sweeps of UW-Stevens Point and Northwestern yesterday, they opened with a win over UW-Eau Claire by set scores of (25-13, 25-20, 25-10), and wrapped up the day with a victory over Northland, making quick work with scores of (25-9, 25-9, 25-10).

Lexi Rinde led the way with nine kills against UW-Eau Claire, while Lexi Alm, Chelsea Rachel and Sophie Stangl all added eight in the match. Rachel also led the way with nine digs, just missing a double-double. Running the offense, Taya Kockelman tossed out 35 assists, and went over the 30-mark in each of the season's first three matches.

Playing their third consecutive team to open the season that was either ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Preseason Poll, the Blazers were dominant. They hit .337 on offense, while holding the Blugolds to a mere .065 mark. With five kills and no errors, Mary Franz hit .500 in the match, while Stangl connected at a .412 clip. Alm and Rinde were each above the .300 mark as well. 

The first set included a 15-to-3 run to blow the game open, while the third opened with a 6-0 run where the Blazers never looked back on their way to handing the defending WIAC Tournament Champions their second loss.

Against Northland, in the last match of the tournament, the Blazers were able to go deep into the bench, and get some playing experience for many of the younger players. Leading the way in the match was Laura Schmitt, who finished with 12 kills without an error on 20 attempts.

After the Tournament, participating coaches voted and an All-Tournament Team was named. The Blazers had two representatives honored, including junior setter Taya Kockelman, and senior outside hitter Lexi Alm, who was also named the Tournament MVP.

In three matches played, Alm hit .368 with 31 kills, while also adding 17 digs in the back row and seven service aces.

The Blazers will make the quick turn around and hit the road to play again on Tuesday (Sep. 3) at Minnesota Morris in a 7:30 p.m. battle. They will then head for Spokane, Wash. next weekend for four games at the Witworth Invitational.