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ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – There should be very few surprises waiting for the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team when it opens the NCAA Division III National Tournament against Wartburg College Thursday afternoon.
 
The stage is a familiar one for the Blazers, as this marks their fifth straight trip to the national tournament and eighth in the last nine seasons. CSB's first-round opponent is also familiar as the Blazers defeated the Knights 3-1 in September.
 
Saint Benedict is hoping to use that familiarity to its advantage as it looks to advance past the first round of the national tournament for the first time since 2013. CSB, which is 3-4 at nationals since 2011, starts its 2015 tournament run at 5:30 p.m. when it takes on Wartburg in Whitewater, Wis.
 
The two teams met on Sept. 19 as part of the Wartburg Tournament, and the Blazers walked away with a 3-1 win – the fifth win in what would end up being a 10-match winning streak that spanned from Sept. 12 to Oct. 3. CSB won the first set 25-15, but the Knights came back to win set two 25-20. The Blazers won the third and fourth sets by identical scores of 25-19.
 
Senior Laura Schmitt led the team with 18 kills and 14 digs and Lauren Mathews added 10 kills. Megan Barta had 21 digs and Megan Pekarek finished with 39 assists. Libby Creery led the Knights with 13 kills, Emma Harmeyer had 29 assists and Jamie Farley had 24 digs.
 
The Blazers enter the national tournament 18-9 overall and coming off a 3-1 loss to Bethel in the MIAC semifinals last Thursday, Nov. 5. CSB, which went on a 10-match winning streak midseason, has won four of its past six games, including a 3-2 win over Carleton in the MIAC quarterfinals and a big 3-2 road win over Augsburg to help seal a spot in the league's postseason tournament.
 
Leading the way for CSB's offense is Schmitt, a senior outside hitter who has 385 kills so far this season. Schmitt, who earned All-MIAC honors, also has 432 digs, and recently went over 1,000 digs in her career. Sophomore Briana Schmiesing has 231 kills and Mathews has 217 for the Blazers, who average 12.39 kills per set as a team.
 
Running the Blazer offense is Pekarek. The sophomore setter has 1,059 kills in her first season with the team, and recorded three straight triple-doubles to help CSB pick up key MIAC wins at the end of the regular season. Junior Meghan Koop and Barta, a first year, lead the CSB defense with 462 and 455 digs, respectively, and both Mary Franz and Mathews have 89 blocks.
 
The Knights are 30-5, on a five-match winning streak and coming off a 3-1 win over Loras for the IIAC title heading into Thursday's match. This marks the first national tournament appearance since 2013 for Wartburg. Senior Krystal Graves leads the team with 350 kills and Claire Willenbring has 308. Emma Harmeyer (738 assists) and Maria Brown (373 assists) run the Knights' offense, and Jamie Farley has 642 digs.
 
Live stats (http://sidearmstats.com/uww/wvball/) and video (http://reslife.uww.edu/stream/) will be available for the CSB/Wartburg match. The winner of Thursday's match moves on to play the winner of the UW-Whitewater/Northwestern match Friday night. Other teams in the region include Gustavus, Bethel, Hope and UW-Eau Claire.