Women's Volleyball | 09/23/2015
Live Stats/VideoST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team heads back to St. Paul Wednesday, Sept. 23, to face off against Macalester College. This is the ninth and final match in a nine-game road trip for CSB, which hasn't played at home since Sept. 8. The Blazers enter Wednesday's MIAC matchup with an 8-4 overall record, a 1-0 conference mark and riding a six-match winning streak.
About the Scots: The Scots have started their season off very well and are sitting with a record of 11-2. After starting the season 3-0, the Scots lost a match against Austin College in the Austin College Tournament. From here, they have won eight of their last nine matches and will be heading into their match against the Blazers with a lot of momentum. Clara Baumann (122 kills) and Brooke Hunter (121 kills) lead the Scots' offense, Arianna Hesterberg has 358 assists and Cora Trout leads the defense with 212 digs.
Last Year: Last season, the Blazers faced Macalester at home and walked away with a 3-0 win. The Blazers came out strong in that game and started the match with a 25-9 win. They continued this success with a 25-6 win in the second set and a 25-13 win in the third set.
Laura Schmitt led the Blazers with 12 kills and seven digs, and
Mary Franz added another nine kills.
The Storyline: The Blazers have been building up their momentum for the past six games with a 3-0 finish in the Wartburg Tournament and a 3-1 win over St. Thomas – their first since 2009. They will be looking to continue this success as they head into the core of their conference play. The Scots will also be looking to rebuild their momentum after falling to Concordia last week by a score of 3-1.
Who to Watch: Senior
Laura Schmitt currently leads the Blazers with 173 kills and sits with 3.68 kills per set, and was named the MIAC Hitter of the Week after recording four double-doubles to help CSB finish 4-0 last week.
Meghan Koop also averages 2.19 kills per set and leads the team with 195 digs.
Lauren Mathews leads the team with 42 blocks and
Mary Franz adds another 38 on the season. Setter
Megan Pekarek is second in the MIAC with 426 assists.
Last Time Out: In their last match, the Blazers finished off the Wartburg Tournament with a 3-1 win over Wartburg College. In this match, the Blazers started with a 25-15 win in the first set before Wartburg pushed back to take the second set by a score of 25-20. The Blazers then finished the night with two more 25-19 wins to close out the tournament. Schmitt finished this match with 18 kills and
Lauren Mathews added 10 more.
Megan Pekarek also finished the night with 39 assists as
Megan Barta led the defense with 21 digs. CSB went 3-0 at the tournament, with wins over two teams mentioned in the AVCA poll.
