ST. JOSEPH, MINN. -- The College of Saint Benedict Volleyball Team (14-7, 6-1 MIAC, 2nd), which has won five straight matches and moved into second place in the MIAC, will host matches against St. Olaf College (11-11, 4-3 MIAC, T-3rd) in St. Joseph, Minn., on Friday, Oct. 21 at 7 pm and against league leader and No. 16 Gustavus Adolphus College (19-4, 7-0 MIAC, 1st)  in MIAC action at 3 pm Saturday at Claire Lynch Hall.
 

The Bennies, which has won seven of its last 10 matches, face a pair of home tests . They will host St. Olaf, which is third in the league, before facing the MIAC leader in Gustavus Adolphus with its nine straight wins. 

CSB is one of seven teams, including both Gustavus Adolphus and St. Olaf, listed in first of the NCAA DIII regional rankings (region IX) released this week. 
 
To follow along the matches, click here for live stats or live video  
 
Bennies continues to surge on the road 

In two road matches on Oct. 14-15, the Bennies continued their recent surge by recording win on both nights to extend their winning streak to five. On Friday, Oct. 14, the Bennies won a drama-filled match at Saint Mary's, 3-2 (16-25, 27-25, 25-22, 24-26, 16-14) as Emma Guest, a junior outside hitter, had her best night of her career with 23 kills on a career-high 62 attacks (.145 hitting pct.) while adding two service aces. On a night when she had her third 20-kill performance of her career, she also accounted for a career-best 25.5 points. Gabby Heying added double double on 14 kills while tying a career-best with 20 digs. First-year middle blocker Mackenzie Knofczynski added 12 kills on 29 attacks with just two errors for a .345 hitting mark. She had her sixth double-digit kill performance this season. Sophomore setter, Audrey Spolidoro, who leads the MIAC in assists, registered 56 assists, which was her second-best mark of her career, while adding 16 digs and three kills. Mackenzie McDonald had 25 digs (2nd best mark of the season), three assists and two service aces.  
 

CSB also won on Saturday, Oct. 15, with a three-set decision at Carleton College by scores of 25-16, 25-19 and 26-24. CSB finished with 40 kills on 129 attacks (18 errors) with a .171 hitting mark. In addition, the Bennies registered 11 aces, which tied a season-high accomplished for the third time. Heying, a senior first-team All-MIAC performer, continued her outstanding season with her 24th career double double on 13 kills with 10 digs. Heying, who ended the match with a kill, now has 52 matches with double-digit kills, including 19 this year (18 in a row). In addition, the senior has 275 kills on the season and totaled 874 in her career as she approaches 900 in her career. Spolidoro, who leads the MIAC in assists and was named the CSB Athlete of the Week, registered 34 assists while adding 14 digs, two blocks and three kills. She now has 10 double doubles this year, including four in a row. She also surpassed 1,300 assists and has 1,317 including a league-best 796 this year. Also, for the Bennies, Chaeli Haupert tied a career-high with four services aces and had 10 digs for her 14th double-digit total this season. In the middle. Paige Andries hit .238 with seven kills and four blocks while Mackenzie Knofczynski had seven kills while hitting .333. 
 

The two road wins comes after an impressive weekend at home when CSB knocked off No. 15 Augsburg (14-4, 3-2), 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-20), on Oct. 8 at Claire Lynch Hall with a balanced and focused effort. For the first time since defeating No. 11 Augsburg, also by a score of 3-0 at home on Oct. 5, 2019, CSB defeated a top-20 ranked team in NCAA DIII.   
 
CSB lead MIAC in kills/set, assists/set and digs/set 
The Bennies, which rank fifth in the MIAC with a .176 hitting mark, is first in kills per set at 13.38 with the 990 kills third best. Led by Spolidoro's 796 set assists, CSB ranks first with 923 or a team average of 12.47 per set. The Bennies lead a third category with 1,507 digs or 20.36/set. 
 
Quick Look at St. Olaf College 
St. Olaf, which is 11-11 overall and 4-3 in conference play, recently lost to Augsburg University, 3-0; Bethel University, 3-2; and won against Hamline University, 3-1. In the MIAC, St. Olaf ranks fourth in hitting percentage at .188 with 1,113 kills on 3,320 attacks in 93 sets. An outstanding serving team, they rank second in the MIAC with 190 service aces or 2.04/set. In addition, they are eighth in digs with 1,494 or 16.06.   A player to watch is Nicole Banitt who is hitting .267 on 98 kills. Catherine Moore has 271.5 points or 2.92.set with 261 kills or 2.81.set.
 
Series Notes – CSB leads, 31-21 
In the all-time series, Saint Benedict owns a 31-21 series lead over Saint Mary's with two straight wins, including a 3-0 decision on Oct. 15, 2021. From Sept. 8, 2011, to Oct. 19, 2018, CSB won 10 straight matches. CSB has an 18-3 home record against St. Olaf. In the first match up on Oct. 11, 1993, Bennies took a 3-2 loss against St. Olaf. 
 
Quick Look at nationally-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College 
No. 16 Gustavus Adolphus College, which is 19-4 overall and leads the MIAC with a 7-0 record in conference play, has won nine straight matches, including a 3-0 sweep to Hamline University on Oct. 15. They won against St. Catherine University, 3-0 on Oct. 12. In the MIAC, Gustavus ranks first in hitting percentage at .235 with 1,036 kills on 2,932 attacks in 63 sets. In blocking, the Lions rank first in the MIAC with 93.0 total or 1.48/set. A player to watch is outside hitter Marlee Turn who has 301 kills or 3.81/set in 79 sets. Gustavus is second in assists with 12.47/set, rank second in kills with 13.11/set and third in blocks with 1.87/set.
 

Series Notes – Bennies own a 22-13 lead over Gustavus 
In the all-time series, Saint Benedict owns a 22-13 series lead over Gustavus. In home match ups, CSB is 13-4 and sit 16-10 in MIAC contests against Gustavus. In the last meeting, CSB took a 3-0 loss on Oct. 23, 2021, but won the first match up, 3-0, on Sept. 4, 1993. 
 
Head Coach Nicole Hess notes 

In her 13th season, Head Coach Nicole Hess has led CSB to a 14-7 record and 6-1 in the MIAC for second place. Hess, who was inducted into the St. Olaf Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015 – has coached 12 All-Americans, 75 All-Central Region players, 28 All-MIAC athletes and 31 athletes who earned Academic All-MIAC honors. She is 239-114 overall at CSB and 94-35 in MIAC play. 
 
In her 19 seasons overall as a head coach, Hess is 303-246 overall and 108-97 in conference play. On Sept. 6, 2003, she registered her first victory against UW-Stevens Points. Her 100th victory was at CSB against Gustavus Adolphus on Nov. 1 and her 200 victories came on Sept. 17, 2016, against Buena Vista University. She recorded her 300th win on Oct. 7, 2022, against Macalester College. Hess led CSB to a national tournament berth each year from 2011-15, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2012, and made it back to the NCAA Tournament each year from 2017-19 with a 26-8 record and another Sweet 16 trip in 2018 and a 26-6 record and an Elite 8 appearance in 2019. She has won 18 or more games in nine of her 12 seasons, including four seasons with 21 wins or more. After a 12-13 finish in 2016, CSB went 19-9 in 2017 before reaching the 20-win milestone for the fourth time in her career in 2018. CSB finished 18-10 overall and third in the MIAC in 2015, and in 2014 Hess helped CSB finished 21-10 overall while picking up the 100th win of her CSB coaching career. 
 
Hess came to CSB in 2009 from St. Catherine where she was the head coach from 2003-09. She inherited a rebuilding Wildcat program and made great progress in her seven seasons there. During her last two seasons, the Wildcats won more than 10 games for the first time since 1996. She won MIAC Coach of the Year honors in 2009. As a collegiate player, Hess achieved success as a four-time All-MIAC honoree at St. Olaf College. She was a three-time member of the All-Region team and in 2001 was selected to the AVCA All-America second team. Hess holds school records in career kills (2,041), career hitting percentage (.352), and hitting percentage in a season (.392). She is in the top 10 in St. Olaf history