ST. JOSEPH, MINN. – In a matchup with the league leader, the College of Saint Benedict (14-9, 6-3 MIAC) dropped a 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-22) decision to No. 16 Gustavus Adolphus (21-4, 9-0 MIAC) on Saturday afternoon on Family Weekend.
Before another large crowd at Claire Lynch Hall, the Bennies battled but dropped a three-set decision. With the setback, CSB is 14-9 on the season but at 6-3 in the MIAC still retain at least a tie for second place.
One of the keys for the visiting Golden Gusties was their overall success at the net. They had 45 kills, including 14 by Sarah Elliott (.364), on 111 attacks with 12 errors for a .297 hitting mark. It was 57 points higher than their league average of .240 which leads the MIAC. CSB had some struggles at the net with 28 kills on 110 attacks and 22 errors for a .055 hitting mark, which was well below the season average of .175. Gustavus also had a 7-to-3 edge in total team blocks, a 55-48 margin in digs and a 6-to-2 advantage in service aces.
Leading the way for CSB was senior
Gabby Heying, who had eight kills on 31 attacks for aa .129 hitting mark. She also had nine digs. With that kill total she moves to 898 on her career. Junior outside hitter
Emma Guest added seven kills and a team-high 10 digs while
Olivia Thompson had six kills.
Audrey Spolidoro had 22 assists, eight digs and three kills. She now has a league-best 858 or 10.09 per set.
In the opening set, Gustavus had a 17-to-7 edge in kills with the hitting marks at .293-to-.029 for CSB. The visitors opened an 8-2 lead and extended the margin to 15-6 before CSB rallied to close within 24-16 on a kill by Guest.
In the second set, CSB had four kills on 30 attacks while the Gusties converted 14 kills on 29 attacks for a .379 mark. After opening a 6-3 lead, they extended the team to 14-4 before CSB cut the deficit to 15-7 with a 3-1 run. Later, CSP drew within 21-13 after
Paige Andries had a kill but the momentum was with Gustavus who finished the set with four straight points for the win.
In the final set, the two teams had a battle. CSB, which had their best hitting mark of the match at .174 (17 kills on 46 attacks and nine errors), took a 6-4 advantage. But the Gusties, which hit .244 (14 kills on 41 attacks and four errors) had an 11-6 run for a 15-12 lead. Once again, the Bennies fought back with a 5-0 run to take a 17-15 lead. In the final segment of the match, the two teams were tied six times, including at 22-22, before Gustavus closed the match by scoring the final three points for a 25-22 win.
The Bennies have two matches left in the regular season before the MIAC Tournament on Nov. 1. They will visit St. Catherine at 7 pm on Wednesday, Oct. 26 in St. Paul, Minn., before hosting their regular season finale against Concordia College at 5 pm on Oct. 29.
