ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2018, the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team is back and ready for more in 2019.
 
CSB – which hadn't won an NCAA Tournament game since 2013 heading into last year's campaign – finished second in the MIAC, earned an at-large bid to the national tournament and used a come-from-behind win over Morris to earn a spot in the Sweet 16 last November. As the new season kicks off this weekend, Saint Benedict returns some key players from that deep tournament run, and looks to make another at the end of the season.
 
Saint Benedict kicks off the 2019 season Friday and Saturday, Aug. 30-31, in San Antonio at the Trinity National Invite hosted by Trinity University. The team takes on Neumann at 1 p.m. Friday in its first match of the season, then Morris – a familiar regional foe – and 5 p.m. Saturday, CSB plays Mary Hardin-Baylor and host-school Trinity. CSB heads into the tournament ranked 25^th in Division III, MHB is No. 15 and Trinity is 17^th.
 
CSB doesn't have any time to rest after returning from Texas Sunday. After playing two ranked teams over the weekend, the team heads to Eau Claire, Wis., to take on fourth-ranked UW-Eau Claire – which knocked Saint Benedict out of the national tournament in 2018.
 
Back to lead the attack for CSB are junior twins Hunter Weiss and Madison Weiss. Hunter earned First Team All-American honors as a sophomore after finishing fourth in DIII in total blocks and top 25 in total kills, and Madison was a third-team honoree after leading the nation in total blocks. Junior setter Katie Koch also returns after finishing the year seventh in the nation with 1,286 assists. She reached the 1,000^th assist of her career on Oct. 24 against Macalester. All three athletes earned All-MIAC First Team honors as sophomores.
 
On the defensive side, libero Haley LaValle is back for her senior season after finishing seventh in the nation with 687 total digs. Junior Bridget McDonald and sophomore Mary Wenisch will also compete for defensive playing time. Saint Benedict graduated three seniors in the spring, but head coach Nicole Hess brought in a trio of talented first years, and all three will look to compete for playing time early in the season.
 
After returning from Texas, Saint Benedict is at home for the first time when it hosts the four-team CSB Invite Sept. 6-7. The team's first home game of the year is at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, against Morris, and after playing two games in Claire Lynch on Saturday, CSB isn't at home again until Oct. 5 when it takes on Augsburg.