EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Four seems to be the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team's lucky number.
In 2016, CSB upset fourth-ranked Emory on its home court in Atlanta, Ga. Wednesday night, Saint Benedict did it again.
CSB beat No. 4 UW-Eau Claire 3-1 on the Blugolds' home court in Eau Claire, Wis. After falling behind early in the first set, CSB won 25-23, then went on to win the second set 25-18. Eau Claire bounced back and used a tough offense to win the third set 25-18, but Saint Benedict came out strong and built a big lead early to win the fourth set 25-15 to win the match.
The win pushes CSB's overall record to 4-1, including a pair of wins against ranked teams after also beating No. 15 Mary Hardin-Baylor over the weekend. The win also gives Saint Benedict momentum heading into its home tournament this weekend.
In the first set, Eau Claire (2-2) jumped to an early lead, and held that lead throughout much of the match. But little by little, CSB chipped away, and tied the game at 23-23, then won the final two points to gain momentum with a big first-set win.
The momentum from the first set carried over into the second as CSB snagged an early lead and then held on for the win. The Blugolds used a strong offensive outburst to get a jump on Saint Benedict, and held off a late offensive run from CSB to make it 2-1. Saint Benedict didn't give up there, however, as the team went up 7-2 early and never backed down. The team led by 10 points on several occasions, and a kill from
Gabby Heying gave CSB the win.
Heying,
Hunter Weiss and
Madison Weiss all finished with double-digit kills for Saint Benedict, which had 48 total kills and hit .444 in the fourth and final set. Hunter had 15 kills, Madison added 13 and Heying finished with 10.
Katie Koch had 35 assists and six digs, and
Maurissa Isaacs led the team with 14 digs.
Haley LaValle added 13 digs for CSB.
Makenzie Bachmann led the Blugolds with 14 kills and Arianna Barrett finished with 12. Leah Witzel had 27 assists and Taylor Scalia paced the team with 18 digs.
CSB is at home for the first time this season Friday and Saturday, Sept. 6-7, when it hosts a four-team tournament with Concordia, Morris and Northwestern. CSB's first game of the tournament is at 7 p.m. Friday against Morris.
