ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team wrapped up the 2019 regular season with a sweep of Concordia, securing a top-three seed and a home MIAC Tournament game.
Concordia hung tough, but CSB came away with a win by scores of 25-20, 25-22 and 25-15 Saturday afternoon in Claire Lynch. CSB is now 22-4 overall and 8-3 in the MIAC. The Bennies finished in a three-way tie for second with Augsburg and St. Olaf, and after head-to-head tiebreakers earn the No. 3 seed. St. Thomas went undefeated and won the 2019 regular-season title, the Oles are the No. 2 seed and the Auggies earn the No. 4 seed.
The three seed ensures CSB a home game Tuesday, Nov. 5. The Bennies sixth-seeded Bethel at 7 p.m. Tuesday. St. Thomas and St. Olaf get byes in the first round, and No. 4 Augsburg hosts No. 5 Gustavus in the other quarterfinal matchup.
Saint Benedict jumped to early leads on the Cobbers (7-19, 4-7) in each of the three sets Saturday. In set one, two kills from
Madison Weiss and one from
Hunter Weiss made it 3-0 early, and two straight Concordia attack errors later made it 7-2. Two kills from Madison and a
Katie Koch service ace made it 23-15. The Cobbers went on a 5-1 run, but Hunter had a kill to end the set.
CSB took a 7-3 lead early in the second set thanks to blocks from Koch and
Emily Marso and a kill from Marso. Concordia later took a 12-11 lead thanks to three straight service aces, but kills from Marso,
Gabby Heying and Madison and a block from Madison and Heying made it 19-15. The Cobbers caught up against at 22-21, and again at 23-22, but Hunter and Marso had kills to end the set in CSB's favor.
Set three was all Saint Benedict throughout. Marso and Heying had early kills and the duo also had several blocks as part of a 12-5 run to start the set. Hunter had three kills in 5-0 run that made it 17-6, and a kill from Heying an a Cobber attack error ended the set and the match.
Madison had 14 kills and hit .650 with just one attack error. She also had five block assists. Hunter had 13 kills and Marso just missed trying her career high with 10 kills. Koch had 43 assists and nine digs, and both
Haley LaValle and
Bridget McDonald had 10 digs.
Brianna Carney led Concordia with eight kills. Jill Klaphake and Lexi Turn each had 13 assists, and Turn also had 12 digs.
This marks the third straight season CSB has earned a MIAC Tournament spot. The Bennies have made it to the championship match in each of the last two seasons, winning the 2017 MIAC Tournament title against UST.
