ST. JOSEPH, MINN. – Gabby Heying (16 kills, 15 digs) and Emma Guest (10 kills, 14 digs) both recorded double-doubles but the College of Saint Benedict (14-8, 6-3 MIAC) dropped a closely contested match to St. Olaf (12-11, 5-3 MIAC), 3-1 (23-25, 27-25, 23-25, 22-25) on Friday night at a packed Claire Lynch Hall.

Despite the loss, CSB held onto second place in the MIAC with a 6-2 mark as St. Olaf is in a three-way tie for third at 5-3 with Bethel and St. Catherine. Overall, the Bennies, which had a five-match winning streak come to a close, sit 14-8 as they host league leader Gustavus Adolphus (20-4, 8-0 MIAC) on Saturday at 3 pm. Against St. Olaf, the Bennies hold a 31-23 all-time series advantage, including 18-5 at home.

Heying was solid all-around for the Bennies as she recorded her 25^th career double double. With her 16 kills, she now has 53 matches with double-digit kills, including 20 this year and 19 in-a-row. Heying hit .359 on the night with 39 attacks while adding 15 digs. Heying now has 291 kills on the season and 890 in her career as she continues to push closer to 900.

Junior outside hitter Emma Guest had her eighth career double-double as she registered 10 kills on 37 attacks while recording 14 digs. Also reaching double-digit kills for CSB was Olivia Thompson with 10 kills on 32 attacks while Mackenzie Knofczynski supplied 12 kills on 24 attacks for a .375 hitting mark. Sophomore setter Audrey Spolidoro was solid with her 40 assists and nine digs. She surpassed 800 assists and has 836 on the season, a league-leading total.

Overall, CSB hit .227 as a team with 55 kills on 176 attacks and 15 errors. St. Olaf, which had 19 kills (.486 hitting mark) from Catherine Moore, outdueled CSB with 62 kills on 187 attacks and a .251 hitting mark. St. Olaf also had an edge in service aces, 7-6; assists, 61-51; and blocks, 5-3. CSB had the advantage in digs at 67-62.

In this Family Weekend match, the crowd was loud and energetic with the on-court play matching the spirit in the facility. It was a match that had an ebb and flow all night. Both teams jumped to leads only to be matched by rallies from the other side.

In the opening set, St. Olaf never trailed as they hit .364 on 15 kills with 33 attacks. CSB also had a solid set with a .229 hitting mark on 13 kills with their 35 attacks. The Oles jumped to an 8-4 lead and led, 10-7, before extending the advantage to 16-10. With a 9-to-4 run, CSB cut the deficit to 20-19 after a kill by Thompson. Later, Chaeli Haupert had a service ace tie the match. However, the Oles closed on a 3-1 run to take a 1-0 lead.

In set two, the team again battled but CSB prevailed, 27-25. In capturing the set, the Bennies hit .280 on 15 kills with 50 total attacks and just one error. The Oles had 16 kills on 48 attacks with four errors for a .250 mark. Early on, St. Olaf had a 7-4 lead but CSB had four straight points, including a kill by Knofczynski for an 8-7 lead. After three lead exchanges, the visitors had a 19-17 lead following a 4-0 run. Later facing set point, the Bennies scored two straight points to tie the set after Paige Andries had a kill. After a point by the Oles, CSB closed with three straight points, including kills from Guest and Knofczynski, to take the set and even the match at 1-1.

St. Olaf was able to take the third set by a 25-23 decision as they hit .269 on 17 kills on 52 attacks. It was a little frustrating for CSB which out-hit the visitors with its 16 kills on 43 attacks and a .302 hitting mark. As was the case throughout the match, both teams traded points and leads. After St. Olaf took an 8-6 lead, the Bennies scored five straight points with a kill by Thompson giving CSB an 11-8 lead. The Bennies led, 18-16, before St. Olaf had a 6-0 run for a 22-18 advantage. CSB cut the lead to 23-22 but lost two of the final three points as they fell behind, 2-1 in sets.

In the final set, the Bennies lost a heartbreaker as they had control early in the match, rushing out to a 9-2 lead. CSB pushed the lead to 15-4 after another, 6-2 run. Then, St. Olaf found their rhythm with 10 straight points to tie the match at 15-15. After that, Oles closed on a 10-7 run to grab the final set and match with the 25-22 decision.

In that final set, CSB had 11 kills on 48 attacks with six errors for a .104 hitting mark, the lowest of the match. St. Olaf hit .167 on 14 kills with 54 attacks as they found a way to prevail late.