ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team stayed perfect on its home court in 2019 after a pair of sweeps Saturday in Day 2 of its home tournament.
After a tough 3-1 win over Morris Friday night, Saint Benedict came back and swept both Northwestern and Concordia to push its win total to seven matches so far this season. The team is 7-1 heading into nearly a four-week long road trip. Saint Benedict doesn't play in Claire Lynch again until Saturday, Oct. 5.
In its first match of the day, CSB fought off a feisty Northwestern team to win 25-19, 25-23 and 25-17. The Eagles led 14-10 midway through the set, but
Madison Weiss had a kill and
Hunter Weiss had two, and an Eagles attack error tied the set at 15-15. A kill from
Gabby Heying and two from Madison made it 21-18, and she had two more to go along with two Eagle attack errors to end the set.
In the second set CSB led 5-1 early, then 8-3 and 13-6, but Northwestern (3-2) chipped away, and tied the set at 19-19. The lead went back and forth, and after a Northwestern service ace tied the match at 23-23, Madison had a kill and an Eagle attack error gave CSB the two-point win. Saint Benedict extended its lead early in set three, and pushed through to come away with the win.
As has been the case much of the season, Hunter led the team with 15 kills, and she also had three blocks. Madison added 10 kills and seven blocks and Heying finished with eight kills.
Katie Koch had 39 assists and
Haley LaValle led the defense with 17 digs.
Bridget McDonald (12) and Koch (11) also had double-digit digs, and CSB's defense held the Eagles to just a .096 hitting percentage.
In the second match of the day, Saint Benedict won big in Set 1 against the Cobbers, but had to hold off late rallies in sets two and three to win 25-16, 25-20 and 25-23. The Cobbers led early in Set 2 before kills from Heying and Madison put CSB on top for good. Concordia got within two at 15-13, but Hunter had three straight kills and a fourth later made it 19-14, and CSB pushed through for the win. The Cobbers jumped to a 6-1 lead in the third set, and maintained at least a slim lead late, including 18-15. CSB tied the set, and after some back and forth Hunter had a kill and McDonald wrapped up the set with a service ace.
Hunter added 15 more kills to her season total, Heying finished with 14 and Madison added 10. CSB had 51 kills to the Cobbers' 37, and hit .367. Koch notched 45 assists,
Mary Wenisch had 11 digs and LaValle finished with 10.
CSB starts its month-long road trip Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13-14, when it heads to River Falls, Wis., for four games at the UW-River Falls Tournament.
