RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The College of Saint Benedict split a pair of matches to start its weekend at the UW-River Falls Invite Friday afternoon in River Falls, Wis.
 
In its first match of the day, CSB (3-5) beat St. Olaf 3-1 in a hard-fought, nonconference matchup, but it fell 3-0 to No. 25 UW-Stevens Point in its second match of the day.
 
The first match of the day against the Oles came down to the final points of the match in every set but one. CSB won the first set 31-29 in a thriller that went back and forth before kills by Lauren Mathews and Hunter Weiss finally gave Saint Benedict the win.
 
St. Olaf (8-3) dominated the second set, winning 25-11, but CSB bounced back to win sets three and four 25-22 and 25-23. Madison Weiss had back-to-back kills to help close out the third set, and Madison Weiss had a kill late in the fourth set as well to help CSB hold on for the win.
 
Hunter Weiss finished with a team-high 15 kills and Madison Weiss added 14 for CSB, which finished the match with 58 total kills. Megan Pekarek had 48 assists and Lauren Mathews led the team with five block assists. Haley LaValle paced the defense with 19 digs and Liz Schultz finished the match with nine kills and eight digs.
 
In the second set of the day, the Pointers (10-2) got off to a fast start in set one, winning 25-15. CSB kept things closer in the second set but fell 25-19, and used late kills from Schultz to get within two points before losing the third and final set 25-23.
 
Schultz led the team with 11 kills in the second match of the day and Briana Schmiesing added six. Pekarek had 25 assists and nine digs and Allison Roehl (15) and LaValle (10) both hit double-digit digs.
 
CSB returns to action Saturday, Sept. 16, when it takes on UW-Stout at 10 a.m. and host-school UW-River Falls at 4 p.m. in the second and final day of the tournament.