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ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – It will be border battle when the volleyball teams from the College of Saint Benedict, the MIAC Champions, and UW-La Crosse, the WIAC Champions, lineup opposite of each other in the first round of the NCAA DIII Regional on Thursday, Nov. 9, at Northwestern.

The two teams face off after winning their respective conference playoffs last weekend. CSB returns to the national stage after missing last season's competition after previously qualifying for five straight post season spots. This marks La Crosse's third straight trip to the NCAA's, and the team's 15th overall. Saint Benedict heads into Thursday's match looking for its first win at the national tournament since 2013.

The two teams took similar paths to the national tournament. Both teams are currently on seven-game win streaks, and both upset nationally ranked teams to win their conference tournaments. The Eagles took down No. 16 UW-Whitewater in straight sets, while CSB upset No. 17 St. Thomas 3-2 at St. Thomas.

About the Eagles
La Crosse enters the match with a 21-6 overall record on the season. In the Eagles' six losses, four came to teams that CSB has defeated on the season – two to Luther, one each from Gustavus and St. Thomas. Their final two losses came from teams ranked second in the nation – Viterbo and Northwestern.

None of the Eagles' losses came to conference opponents, earning them a 7-0 conference record. La Crosse has posted an impressive 7-1 away record, showing that it doesn't need home court in advantage in order to be successful. The team is 8-4 in neutral-site games.

The Eagles are lead offensively by two-time WIAC Offensive Player of the Year Stephanie Henk, who has registered 334 kills (3.55 k/set average) and 34 services aces. Head coach Amber Dunn was voted to be the best bench boss in the WIAC for the season. The Eagles also had three players named to the WIAC All Conference Team with Henk, Marisa Johnson, and Madison Entinger all earning honors.

Champ vs. Champ
La Crosse and UW-Whitewater met in the conference championship for the second straight season, with the Eagles coming out on top. The teams found themselves tied in each of the three sets, but La Crosse broke each tie in their favor. Henk and Johnson registered double-doubles for the Eagles in the win, with Henk leading with 12 kills while getting 10 digs. Johnson picked up 10 kills and 12 digs. Entinger dished out 35 assists, while senior libero Halle Barnabo picked up 21 digs.
Saint Benedict's conference win did not come as easily as it faced a tough No. 17 team in St. Thomas, and defeated the Tommies 3-2 to win their first MIAC Championship title since 2009, and the eighth in CSB volleyball history.

CSB fell to the Tommies 25-18 in the first set, and after a tight start to the second set, CSB found themselves down 21-15 in the second. Down, but not out, CSB got kills from Lauren Mathews and two from Briana Schmiesing to close the gap to 21-19. The Tommies would go up to 24-21, but kills from Madison Weiss and Liz Schultz and a pair of errors from UST gave CSB a 25-24 lead, and sealed the set with a  block from Schultz and Mathews at 28-26.

The Tommies came out hot in set three, but CSB tied the score at 14-14. UST kept the slimmest of margins in their favor to take the third set 25-23. CSB fell behind 5-0 before getting their first point in set four, eventually allowing UST to get out to a 9-2 lead.  Hunter Weiss notched three kills to get Saint Benedict back into the game. CSB tied the game 15-15 when Mathews and Megan Pekarek registered key kills to make it 22-17 in favor of Saint Benedict. Extra points would be required again as the Tommies would come back to even with CSB, but a service ace by Mathews and kills from Hunter Weiss and Pekarek won the fourth set 27-25.

The teams traded runs in the final set, and the game was tied 9-9 before a UST error and Schmiesing put CSB up 11-9. Saint Benedict buckled down after a UST timeout, and clinched the set with a 15-10 fifth set victory.

Who to Watch
CSB will turn to its well-balanced hitting core to have a big game against the Eagles. Hunter Weiss leads Saint Benedict with 301 kills, while Schultz (245), Schmiesing (207), and Madison Weiss (204) all have 200-plus kills.  Haley LaValle has been holding down the backrow for CSB, leading the team with 492 digs, good enough for fourth in the conference. Pekarek also sits in fourth in the conference standings for assists, with 1,001 on the season. She picked up her 3,000^th career assist and 1,000^th season assist in the win against St. Thomas.

The CSB block has had a strong showing this season, with Madison Weiss holding down second place with 110 blocks and Mathews sitting in fourth place with 89 blocks on the season. Schultz has also been a conference leader from the service line, with 37 aces, good enough for a fifth-place tie.