ST. PETER, Minn. – Saturday evening, the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team was able to avenge one of its six losses from the 2018 regular season. Sunday afternoon, it gets the chance to avenge one more.
 
Down two sets to zero, CSB came roaring back to defeat Minnesota-Morris 3-2 Saturday to earn a spot in the Sweet 16. Saint Benedict plays UW-Eau Claire – which beat defending national champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3-1 – at 2 p.m. in the Sweet 16.
 
This marks the first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2012 for CSB and the 10^th in program history.
 
After two sets, it appeared that Morris – which beat Saint Benedict 3-1 in a September match in Claire Lynch – was going to beat CSB once again to advance. The Cougars (22-12) won the first two sets 25-23 to go up 2-0. But Saint Benedict came out strong in the next two sets to win 25-8 and 25-16 to tie the match 2-2 and force a fifth set. After a close start to the final set, CSB pulled away and used a kill from Liz Schultz to win 15-11.
 
The Cougars got off to a fast start in Set 1 and led 12-4 before CSB got into its rhythm. Hunter Weiss and Madison Weiss each had big blocks and Hunter had several kills to get the team back in it, and a kill from Hunter later tied the set at 23-23, but Morris got a block and a kill to take the win. In Set 2 it was CSB that led early, but Morris came back and tied the match at 21-21, and a kill and a service ace made it 2-0.
 
But Saint Benedict came out swinging in the third set, and kills from the Weiss twins and Lauren Mathews, and two straight kill from Liz Schultz put the team up 16-3. A pair of kills from Hunter, a block from the Weiss twins and a kill from Claire Westby ended the set to make it 2-1.
 
CSB was even better in the fourth set, and scored 13 straight points to go up 13-1. The Cougars reached double digits, but CSB hit .400 with 13 kills to pull away for the win and force a fifth set.
 
The final set was back and forth to start, but kills from Madison Weiss and Lauren Mathews made it 10-8 and CSB never gave up the lead. Morris got within 13-11, but a service error and Schultz's kill ended the set and the match and sent CSB to the region championship match.
 
Four players finished with double-digit kills for CSB, led by 18 from Hunter, 16 from Madison and 16 each from Mathews and Schultz. CSB hit .593 in the third set and .299 for the match compared to Morris' .176. Hunter also had nine blocks and Madison had seven, and she is just four blocks away from breaking the school record for blocks in a season.
 
Haley LaValle led the team's defense with 18 digs, Katie Koch had 16 to go along with a career-high 61 assists, and Schultz and Allison Roehl each had 12 digs.
 
Rachel Mathias led Morris with 22 kills. Layne Herrmann had 48 assists and Alyssa Ukestad had 15 digs.
 
CSB looks to avenge a five-set loss against the Blugolds from Sept. 5 in Claire Lynch. CSB led the match 2-1, but Eau Claire won two close sets to take the win.