ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – For the second straight season, the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team is moving on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
After falling 27-25 to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in Thursday's first round, Saint Benedict took control of the match and won the next three sets to keep its season alive with a 3-1 win in the St. Paul Regional. The Bennies move on to play Northwestern, who beat St. Olaf 3-1 later Thursday afternoon.
Thursday's win marks CSB's second over the Blugolds this season, and avenges the team's loss to UWEC in the 2018 Sweet 16. The Blugolds (20-10) won the first set, but Saint Benedict (24-5) came back to win the next three 25-13, 25-23 and 25-22. Saint Benedict's play at the net was crucial as the Bennies had 13 total blocks to Eau Claire's eight, and CSB hit .244 while UWEC hit .129 – including a negative hitting percentage in the second set.
Saint Benedict had the chance to take a 1-0 lead over Eau Claire after taking a 24-22 lead on the Blugolds in Set 1 thanks to a kill from
Hunter Weiss and a service ace from
Morgan Holthaus. But Eau Claire tied the score at 24-24, fought off match point again after a block from
Emily Marso and Weiss, and scored three straight points to win 27-25.
Set 2 was all CSB as the team used kills from
Madison Weiss and
Hunter Weiss, a block from
Maurissa Isaacs and Marso and a service ace from
Gabby Heying to go up 6-1 early. The Blugolds fought back and got within 12-11, but kills from Madison, Hunter and Marso and another block from Marso and Hunter were part of a 6-1 CSB run that made it 18-12. A Saint Benedict attack error made it 18-13, but Saint Benedict scored the final seven points of the match to pull away for the win.
Katie Koch and Marso had a block and Marso and Heying had a block to make it 24-13, and a service ace from Isaacs ended the set.
Saint Benedict jumped to early leads in both the third and fourth sets, but the Blugolds were able to claw back in each set. In Set 3, CSB led 5-0 before Eau Claire woke up and got within 9-8, but a kill from Marso sparked a 5-1 CSB run to make it 14-9. The Blugolds kept things close, and tied the set at 19-19, but a UWEC ball handling error and then an attack error made it 21-19, and a Blugold service error put CSB up 22-20.
Hunter Weiss had a pair of kills to make it 24-22, and a kill from Marso ended the set to put CSB up 2-1.
CSB led 6-1 early in the fourth set, and Eau Claire's offense struggled to get going. A kill and a block from
Madison Weiss were part of a 5-1 CSB run that made it 15-8, and the team led 17-9 after kills from Isaacs and Hunter. The Blugolds responded with a 6-1 run to get within 18-15, and later got within 20-19, but a UWEC ball handling error and a kill from Madison made it 22-19, kills from each of the Weiss twins put CSB up 24-21 and an Eau Claire attack error ended the set and the match.
Madison finished with 18 kills and hit .444 with just two errors. She also had seven block assists and one solo block. Hunter added 16 kills – no hitting errors – and six block assists. Marso and Isaacs both had eight kills, and Marso chipped in with five block assists. Koch had 50 assists and 16 digs, and
Haley LaValle led the team with 20 digs.
Kendra Baierl led all hitters with 20 kills for UWEC. Abbey Pederson had 44 assists and Taylor Scalia had 18 digs.
CSB moves on to play the Eagles at 4:30 p.m. Friday in a second-round matchup in St. Paul. Saint Benedict has already beaten Northwestern twice this season: the Bennies won 3-0 on Sept. 7 at their home tournament, and 3-1 a week later at the UW-River Falls Tournament. Northwestern is 25-8 overall and on a three-match winning streak heading into Friday's game. The Eagles have won 13 of their last 14 games, with their only loss in that time coming to Wartburg. Sophomore setter Sydney Schwitters earned AVCA All-Central Region First Team honors for the second straight season Thursday.
