ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team came out strong in its 3-0 sweep againt the University of Minnesota-Morris Tuesday night. The Blazers took a strong 25-15 win in the first set, followed by 25-17 and 25-19 wins in the last two sets of the night.
CSB, which is on a two-match winning streak, improved its record to 2-2 and sit with a 1-1 home record.
In the first set, the Blazers jumped out to a commanding 13-3 lead early in the game.
The Cougars then responded with a 4-1 run to put the score at 14-7. From here, the Blazers continued to widen the gap throughout the remainder of the set, which they won by a score of 25-15.
The Blazers came out strong in the second set, starting with a 5-0 run. The Cougars then responded with a 6-2 run to put the score at 7-6. The two teams continued to battle back and forth in a close set until the Cougars tied the score at 10-10. The Blazers fired back with a 7-1 run to jump ahead by a score of 17-11. The Blazers finished the set with a 5-2 run to take a 25-17 win.
In the third set of the night, the Blazers started with a 4-0 run before continuing this streak to take a 10-4 lead. The two teams then split the next eight points and the score sat at 14-8. The teams continued to trade points and split the next 12 points of the set until the Blazers sat with a 20-14 lead. From here, the Blazers held off the Cougars for the rest of the set and finished the night by a score of 25-19 in the final set.
Laura Schmitt fueled the offense Tuesday, finishing the match with 12 kills.
Mary Franz and
Briana Schmiesing both also added six kills as well.
Megan Pekarek led the Blazers with 28 set assists and also added five blocks on the night.
Lauren Mathews also helped lead the defense and finished the night with six blocks.
Schmitt finished with a double-double as she added 15 digs, and
Meghan Koop (18),
Gabi Narvaez (15) and
Megan Barta (10) all hit double-digit digs to keep the ball alive for CSB.
The Blazers move on to play in the University of Massachusetts Tournament in Boston this Friday and Saturday, Sept. 11 & 12. Here, they face off in four non-conference matches. They begin the tournament against No. 3 Christopher Newport University and finish the first night of the tournament against Eastern University, which is 12
th in the first AVCA poll of the year. On Saturday, CSB starts the final day of the tournament with a match against the University of Massachusetts-Boston and faces off against Tufts University, which is receiving votes, before heading home to play St Thomas on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
