NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team headed into Thursday's MIAC semifinal matchup at St. Olaf looking to get redemption for one of its four regular-season losses. The Oles' front line had other ideas.
 
St. Olaf had 40 kills in the first two sets alone Thursday and held CSB's offense in check. Saint Benedict (23-5) got hot in the third set and kept things close in the fourth, and fell 3-1 by scores of 25-17, 27-25, 17-25 and 25-20.
 
The loss ends CSB's MIAC Tournament run and means the team has to wait until Monday's NCAA Selection Show to find out its postseason fate. The Oles (26-4) head to St. Paul Saturday to play for the 2019 MIAC Championship and the league's automatic bid to nationals. The selection show starts at 11:30 a.m. CDT.
 
After taking a 4-1 lead early in Set 1, the Oles used small runs throughout the set to hold onto the lead. A kill from Gabby Heying and service ace from Katie Koch cut the lead to 13-10, but the Oles pushed their lead to 19-12 and then 24-15. Hunter Weiss and Madison Weiss each had a block to keep the set going, but a kill ended the set for St. Olaf.
 
The Oles went up 13-9 in Set 2, but a block from Madison and Koch, a kill from Madison and a service ace by Maurissa Isaacs tied the set 16-16. Another quick run that included kills from Madison and Heying made it 19-17 in CSB's favor, but the Oles responded with a quick run to take a 22-21 lead. St. Olaf got to game point at 24-22, but Hunter, Isaacs and Madison had kills to flip the script and give CSB a 25-24 lead, but the Oles won the last three points of the set.
 
Set 3 was all CSB from the get-go. Heying had three service aces and Emily Marso and Hunter each had two kills as part of a 12-0 run to put the team up 13-2. The Oles went on a 7-0 run to get within four at 14-10, but CSB had three straight blocks – and Madison had a hand in all of them – to stop the run and make it 17-10. The Oles went on another short run, but a St. Olaf ball handling error and attack error gave CSB the win to make it 2-1.
 
A kill from Heying and service ace for Heying put CSB up 8-6 in the fourth set, but St. Olaf used a run to go up 11-9 and never looked back. A Heying kill tie the set at 16-16, but the Oles took a 19-16 lead and then used several big kills to close out the set and the match.
 
Saint Benedict finished the game with eight service aces – three from Heying and Isaacs alone – to the Oles' three, and had nine total blocks to St. Olaf's three. Madison had five block assists and Hunter finished with three to lead the team. After hitting negative in the first set, CSB came back to hit .372 in the second and finished the match hitting .184. Hunter had 13 kills and Heying and Madison each added nine. Koch had 38 assists and Haley LaValle led the team with 26 digs. Mary Wenisch chipped in with 11 and Bridget McDonald finished with 10.
 
The Oles hit .273 as a team and had 74 kills to the Bennies' 42. Lauren Rewers led all hitters with 28 kills. Lexi Wall had 63 assists and Emily Jarnigan paced the team's defense with 30 digs.