Women's Volleyball | 10/31/2015
Live Stats/VideoST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team heads into its final match of the regular season Saturday, Oct. 31. CSB faces off against Concordia College at 3 p.m. at the Claire Lynch Hall. This game comes after a big 3-2 win over Augsburg on Wednesday, which improved the Blazesr' overall record to 16-8 and their conference record to 7-3.
The Cobbers are also 7-3, and both teams have secured a berth in the conference tournament, so Saturday's game determines who gets home-court advantage in the first round. The winner could be anywhere from No. 2 to No. 4 seed and host at least one match, and the loser earns the No. 5 seed and will be on the road Tuesday in the first round of playoffs.
About the Cobbers: The Cobbers currently sit with a record of 15-9 and have gone 7-3 in conference play. After starting the season 11-3, the Cobbers went 1-5, including two conference losses to Saint Mary's and Bethel. The Cobbers will be heading into their matchup against the Blazers after going 2-1 in their last three conference matches and will be looking to gain one more conference win in their last match of the season.
Last Year: Last season, the Blazers took a 3-1 road win over the Cobbers in their final match of the season. The Cobbers came out strong and took the first set by a score of 25-19, but the Blazers responded with a 25-20 win in the next set. They also took the next two sets with 25-19 wins.
Laura Schmitt finished the night with 11 kills and 19 digs, and
Mary Franz led the Blazers with four blocks.
The Storyline: The Blazers and Cobbers head into this match with an even conference record of 7-3. In this match, each team will be fighting for the No. 4 spot in the MIAC. Both teams have 3-2 losses to Gustavus this season with the Cobbers falling 3-1 to Bethel and 3-0 to Saint Mary's. The Blazers fell Carleton by a score of 3-1 and suffered a 3-2 loss to St. Kate's earlier in the season.
Who to Watch: Schmitt currently leads the Blazers with 349 kills and sits at fourth place in the MIAC with 3.56 kills per set.
Lauren Mathews also sits with 2.04 kills per set, and leads the Blazers with .86 blocks per set.
Megan Pekarek also leads the MIAC with 9.50 assists per set and
Meghan Koop sits with a team-high of 416 digs. Pekarek is the reigning MIAC Setter of the Week and has recorded three straight triple-doubles.
Last Time Out: In their last match, the Blazers took a 3-2 win over the Auggies in their last road match of the season. The Blazers started the night with a 25-20 win in the first set. The Auggies then took the next two sets by scores of 25-22 and 28-26. From here, the Blazers tied the match at 2-2 with a 25-16 win in the fourth set. The Blazers then finished the night in a close fifth set by a score of 15-13.
Briana Schmiesing led the Blazers with a career-high 21 kills. Schmitt also added another 20 kills and totaled 23 digs. Pekarek finished the night with 50 assists and added 13 kills and 13 digs and
Megan Barta led the defense with 34 digs.
