ST. PAUL, Minn. – It didn't come easy, but the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team started MIAC play with a win Wednesday afternoon.
 
CSB dropped the first set 26-24, but came back to win the next three to defeat St. Kate's 3-1 in a MIAC match in St. Paul, Minn. The win pushes CSB's record to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in the MIAC.
 
The Wildcats (5-5, 0-1) led late in the first set against Saint Benedict, then used a pair of CSB attack errors to sneak away with a 26-24 win to start the match.
 
After that it was all CSB, however. Saint Benedict dominated set two, winning 25-10, and picked up a 2-1 lead after winning the third set 25-18.
 
Saint Benedict led 17-6 in the fourth and final set, but the Wildcats fought back, outscoring Saint Benedict 16-7 to push the set to the final points before falling 25-22.
 
Juniors Liz Schultz and Lauren Mathews led CSB with 13 kills each, and first year Madison Weiss finished with 11 kills. Senior Briana Schmiesing also hit double digits in kills with 10. Senior setter Megan Pekarek finished with 47 assists and she also had 13 digs and seven kills.
 
Sophomore libero Haley LaValle paced the defense with 22 digs and Bridget McDonald (17) and Schultz (15) also hit double-digit digs.
 
Kelly Breuer led St. Kate's with nine kills and Meagan Schwarzrock had 18 assists. Bailey Auseth led the team with 16 digs.
 
Saint Benedict returns to nonconference play Friday and Saturday, Sept. 15-16, when it travels to River Falls, Wis., for the UW-River Falls Invite. The team plays St. Olaf in a nonconference match Friday afternoon before taking on UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stout and UW-River Falls.