ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After a 489-day break from competition, the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team got back into the swing of things Wednesday night with a MIAC sweep of Concordia.
 
The Cobbers hung close in the first set, and appeared poised to force a fourth set after getting within a single point of the Bennies late, but Saint Benedict – which last played on Nov. 21, 2019 in the Elite 8 – held on to win 25-19, 25-16 and 25-23.
 
The Bennies maintained a lead throughout the early goings of the first set, and led 14-9 after a block from Maurissa Isaacs and Madison Weiss, but the Cobbers (0-2, 0-1) scored the next four points to get within one, 14-13. Concordia tied the match at 17-17, but kills from Emma Guest and Hunter Weiss and a Cobber error made it 21-18 CSB, and three straight Concordia attack errors gave the Bennies the win.
 
Concordia took a 7-5 lead early in the second set, but service aces from Isaacs and Bridget McDonald got the Bennies back in it, and Isaacs and Guest both had kills as part of a Bennie run to put CSB up 15-9. Kills from both Weiss twins and Mackenzie McDonald a block from Hunter and Paige Andries made it 23-14, and Hunter and Guest had kills to end the set.
 
In the third set it was the Bennies who led early – 7-3 after a kill from Andries and an Isaacs service ace – and then 12-5 after another short run – but the Cobbers used several short runs to get closer, including 21-20, and later tied the set at 23-23, but a block from Madison and a kill from Hunter ended the match.
 
Guest finished with 10 kills in her CSB debut, and Madison also added 10 kills. She is currently 23 away from the 1,000-kill milestone and sits at 977 in her career. Hunter also had nine kills for CSB, which hit .217 on the night. Katie Koch had 33 assists and led the defense with 17 digs. Guest finished with 15 and Isaacs had 12. Madison also had two solo blocks and three block assists.
 
Mariah Ahrndt paced Concordia with eight kills. Jill Klaphake had 15 assists and Chloe Markovic led the defense with 21 digs. The Cobbers hit .107 on the night.
 
CSB returns home Friday, March 26, when it hosts Minnesota-Morris in a nonconference match at 7 p.m. in Claire Lynch Hall. Per MIAC policy no fans are allowed, but live stats and video will be available here.