Minneapolis – The Saint Benedict volleyball team was unpleasantly surprised tonight (Sept. 18) as they faced Augsburg in their first MIAC matchup of the season. The Blazers, who went into the game ranked No. 10 in the country, fell to the unranked Auggies by a score of 3-0.
Currently sitting at 11-1, and 0-1 in conference play, the Blazers drop their first MIAC game for the first time since 2007, and fall to Augsburg for the first time since 2001.
In the first set the Blazers fell 25-23, in their most successful set of the day with a team hitting percentage of .239. After starting close, the Auggies went on a 5-to-0 run and slowly extended their lead to 14-6 until the Blazers went on a 6-to-2 run to bring the game back to 16-12. The Blazers then went on a 7-to-2 run to tie the game at 20-20.
From there, though, the Blazers couldn't push past the Auggies and fell 25-23.
The Blazers jumped ahead in the second with an early 8-to-1 run to take a 14-6 lead. They kept the lead until the Auggies caught up to tie the game at 22-22, before taking the next three points for the win.
In the third and final set, the score stayed close early until the Auggies jumped from an 11-10 lead to a significant 17-11 lead with a 6-to-1 run. The Auggies would never trail again, finishing off the 25-17 win.
The Blazers still had a good day statistically, despite their loss.
Lexi Rinde (Minnetonka, Minn.) had a great day with 15 kills and a hitting percentage of .609 – each season bests – with
Lexi Alm (Forest Lake, Minn.) also adding another 12 kills and 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.
Alm also moves into ninth place on the Blazers all-time kills list, with 1,116 in her career.
Taya Kockelman (Minneota, Minn.) totaled 40 assists for her third consecutive game breaking the 40 mark, and defensively,
Victoria Nass (Faribault, Minn.) led the team with 19 digs.
Augsburg, though, was too powerful up front, posting 46 kills and a .308 attack percentage, each the best against the Blazers this season. No other team had hit better than .200 against the Blazers all year. The Auggies had their A-game working all night, hitting better than .300 in each set.
The Blazers go on to play St. Catherine this Saturday (Sept. 21) at home in Claire Lynch Hall. The Blazers look to take advantage of their next four MIAC matchups to climb the conference rankings.
