MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team picked up its second MIAC loss of the season Wednesday night at the hands of Augsburg University.
After dropping the first two sets, CSB came back to dominate set three and force a fourth set, but the Auggies pushed through for a 25-20 win to end the set and the match.
Saint Benedict is now 12-8 overall and 5-2 and tied for fourth in the MIAC. Both CSB and Saint Mary's are 5-2, Gustavus leads the league with a 6-1 record and Augsburg and St. Thomas are tied for second with 5-1 conference records.
The first two sets were close Wednesday night, but Augsburg (15-7, 5-1) pulled away for 25-22 and 25-19 wins. CSB came roaring back to win the third set 25-13, but the Auggies held on for a 25-20 win in the fourth and final set.
CSB was down 21-16 in the first set, but a kill from
Briana Schmiesing and blocks from
Madison Weiss,
Hunter Weiss and Schmiesing helped get CSB within one, 21-20, and then two at 23-21, but the Auggies held off the rally for the win.
Augsburg led much of set two and pulled away for the win, but CSB came out hot in the third set. After the Auggies took a 4-2 lead,
Hunter Weiss and
Lauren Mathews both had back-to-back kills to spark an 11-0 run that ended with a 13-4 lead for Saint Benedict. The Auggies made a small run, but three straight Augsburg attack errors and another kill from Mathews helped push the lead and gave CSB the win.
The Auggies led by as many as 10, 18-8, in the fourth set, but
Hunter Weiss and
Morgan Holthaus had kills and a pair of kills by Schmiesing made it 22-16, and a
Madison Weiss kill coupled with an Auggie attack error made it a four-point game, 22-18, before the Auggies pulled away.
Madison Weiss finished with a team-high 11 kills and
Madison Weiss added nine. Schmiesing had eight kills and hit .400 with no attack errors.
Megan Pekarek had 36 assists and eight digs, and
Haley LaValle just missed her career-high with 27 digs. Holthaus also had 11 digs.
Jordan Weeding led all hitters with 13 kills for Augsburg and Corrina Evans added 12. Morgan Malley had 41 assists and Macey Terhell led the defense with 17 digs.
CSB returns home Saturday, Oct. 14, when it hosts Luther in the team's final nonconference match of the season.