ST. PETER, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team came two points away from winning a second straight MIAC title on the road Saturday night.
Down 9-5 in the fifth and final set, CSB rallied to tie the score at 12-12 on a kill from
Hunter Weiss, and again at 13-13 on a kill from
Allison Moldan. But top-seeded Gustavus got a kill and a service ace to hold on for the 15-13 set win and a 3-2 win to claim the 2018 MIAC Championship on its home court in St. Peter.
The loss marks just the seventh of the season for CSB, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force the match to go the distance. CSB is now 24-7, and must wait until Monday to learn its NCAA Tournament fate. Gustavus – which went undefeated in the MIAC in the regular season and through tournament play – earns the leagues automatic bid to the tournament, which runs Friday through Sunday, Nov. 9-11. This marks the Gusties third title in the last four seasons, and either Gustavus or Saint Benedict has played in the conference title match in six of the last seven seasons.
The Gusties, ranked No. 8 in Division III and the owners of a 27-2 record, won the first two sets 25-21 and 25-19. CSB led 15-8 and then 20-15 in the first set, but the Gusties went on a 9-0 run to go up 24-20, and used a setter kill to take a 1-0 lead. Gustavus jumped to a 7-3 lead early in the second set, and was able to maintain that slim lead throughout the set. Saint Benedict used a kill from
Liz Schultz and a Gustavus attack error to get within three at 11-8, but the Gusties went on a run to go up 17-8.
Lauren Mathews and Schultz had kills and
Allison Roehl had a service ace to make it 21-17, but the Gusties were able to hang on for the win.
Saint Benedict was able to maintain a slim lead throughout much of the third set. Gustavus tied the match at 16-16 and took an 18-17 lead, but
Madison Weiss had a kill and
Hunter Weiss and Madison had a trio of block assists, followed by a
Hunter Weiss kill, to make it 22-18. Another kill from Hunter made it 24-20, but the Gusties scored four straight points to tie the set before Hunter and Mathews had kills to get CSB on the board and make it 2-1.
There were 12 ties in the fourth set, with the final coming at 14-14 before Mathews got a kills and the an attack error by the Gusties made it 16-14 in CSB's favor. Gustavus got within 20-18 after a timeout, and then 21-19, but blocks from the Weiss twins and Hunter and Mathews and kills from Hunter and
Katie Koch gave CSB a 25-21 win and tied the match at 2-2 to set up the dramatic fifth and final set.
CSB finished with 14 team blocks to the Gusties' 12, but Gustavus had 121 digs to CSB's 99.
Hunter Weiss finished with a team-high 18 kills for CSB,
Madison Weiss added 13 and Mathews finished with 10. Hunter also had 10 block assists to Hunter's eight. Koch finished with 45 assists and
Haley LaValle had a team-high 32 digs. Schultz (21) and Koch (13) both had double-digit digs.
Kate Holtan led all hitters with 22 kills for Gustavus and Lauren Hanson had 19. Nora Holtan finished with 53 assists and Kate Holtan also had 33 digs.
The selection show for the 2018 NCAA Tournament is at 11:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 5.
