ST. PAUL, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team hung right with St. Thomas all night, but and had the Tommies on the ropes, but couldn't find a way to close out the match.
 
CSB picked up just its fourth loss of the season Wednesday when it fell 3-0 in a MIAC match in St. Paul. With one match left in the regular season, Saint Benedict is 21-4 overall and 7-3 and in a tie for third in the MIAC. The Tommies clinched the regular-season title as they moved to 10-0 in the league, and Augsburg is second at 8-2. CSB is tied with St. Olaf for third, Gustavus is fifth and Bethel is sixth at 5-5.
 
All three sets were close Wednesday night, but the Tommies came out on top 25-21, 26-24, and 32-20. In the third and final set of the night, CSB fought off five match points starting at 24-23, and had match point on St. Thomas twice thanks to a Tommie attack error and a bad set, but the Tommies pulled through for the win.
 
Saint Benedict gained a 6-4 lead early in the third set thanks to a pair of kills from Emily Marso. The Tommies tied the set 7-7, but a block from Marso and Katie Koch, a kill from Madison Weiss and a Tommie attack error put CSB up 10-7 – a lead the team wouldn't give up until the final points of the set. A block from Weiss and Morgan Holthaus made it 13-9, and a kill from Marso and another UST attack error put CSB up five at 17-12, but UST scored five of the next seven points to make it 18-17.
 
Gabby Heying had a kill and Weiss and Heying got a block to make it a three-point game again, and later CSB led 22-19, but UST went on a 5-1 run to go up 24-23 – its first lead of the set. CSB got match point at 25-24 thanks to a kill from Hunter Weiss and a UST attack error, but the Tommies fought that off, and back and forth the set went until the score hit the 30s.
 
In the first set, the Tommies used a 4-1 run midway through the set to take a 13-10 lead, and the Tommies never trailed again. A pair of blocks from the Weiss twins made it 22-20, but UST scored three of the last four points to pull off the win.
 
After a close start to the second set, Hunter got a kill, Marso and Hunter had a block and Koch had a kill to put CSB up 13-12. Madison had a pair of kills to make it 20-17 later in the set, and Hunter got a kill to keep CSB up 22-20, but St. Thomas went on a 6-2 run to pull off the 26-24 win.
 
Hunter finished with 12 kills to pace CSB, which had a .224 hitting percentage to the Tommies' .212. She also had five block assists and Madison had seven block assists and nine kills. Heying had nine kills and four block assists, and Koch finished with 37 assists. Holthaus had a career-high 16 digs, and Haley LaValle also finished with 16 digs. Bridget McDonald chipped in with 10.
 
Selena Levendoski paced the Tommies with a match-high 18 kills. Grace Anetipa had 55 assists and Ellie Meyer led the defense with 26 digs.
 
CSB wraps up the regular season Saturday, Nov. 2, when it hosts Concordia at 3 p.m. The MIAC Tournament starts with quarterfinals Tuesday, Nov. 5.