ST. JOSEPH, MINN. – In the regular season finale, the College of Saint Benedict Volleyball Team (14-10, 6-4 MIAC, 2nd) will host Concordia College (7-15, 3-6 MIAC, 9th) in MIAC action at 5 pm Saturday, Oct. 29 at Claire Lynch Hall. 
 
With 14 wins this year, Bennies have clinched their 11th winning season since 2010.  On Saturday, senior Gabby Heying, who was All-MIAC first team a year ago, and has 920 career kills, will play her final regular season home match.
 
MIAC Notes
In the match up on Saturday, the Bennies will try and earn one of the six spots in the upcoming MIAC Tournament. Currently, CSB is fifth in the league at 6-4 with Augsburg at 5-5 in sixth. Both Macalester and St. Scholastica are 4-5 with two matches to play. A win by the Bennies assures a top five seed. The MIAC tournament quarterfinals begin on Tuesday, Nov. 1 with the #1 and #2 seeds earning byes. The matchups, which will be announced following the 1 pm league matches on Saturday, will pit #5 vs. No. 4 and #6 vs. #3.
  
Follow Along

To follow the Concordia-CSB match, click here for live stats/video.
 
CSB ranks first in assists and third in kills in MIAC 
The Bennies, which rank fifth in the MIAC with a .176 hitting mark, is first in the league in kills per set at 13.32 with 1,132 kills, a total that ranks third-best. Led by Audrey Spolidoro (1,423 career assists) with 902 set assists and a league best 10.13.set, CSB ranks first with 1,052 assists or a team average of 12.38 per set. Spolidoro ranks eighth in NCAA DIII in assists per set. She is also listed in the top 20 in total assists nationally.
 
The Bennies also lead the MIAC with 1,709 digs or 20.11/set. Senior All-MIAC outside hitter Gabby Heying is fourth in the league with 3.54 kills/set and her total of 315 has her at 920 in her career. Heying's season total of 315 is the best of her career as she had 294 in 2019. Heying ranks fifth in the league with 350 points or 3.93 per set. The senior standout has 26 career double doubles, and 54 matches with double-digit kills, including 21 in 2022. Junior Emma Guest is sixth in the league with 323.5 points as she has 282 kills this season, which is a career-high for a season. She has registered nine double doubles this season. First-year standout Chaeli Haupert ranks eighth in the MIAC with 0.40 service aces per set and has 36 in 89 sets this year.  
 
Quick Look at Concordia College  
Concordia College, which is 7-15 overall and ranks in the MIAC with a 3-6 record in conference play, has won two straight matches, including a 3-0 sweep to Saint Mary's University on Oct. 15. Before playing CSB, they will face Hamline on Friday night. Recently, the Cobbers won against Crown College, 3-1 on Oct. 18. In the MIAC, Concordia ranks 11th in hitting percentage at .139 with 926 kills on 2,932 attacks in 63 sets. In blocking, the Cobbers rank sixth in the MIAC with 109.0 total or 1.33/set. A player to watch is outside hitter Anna Brakke who has 203 kills or 2.51/set in 79 sets. Concordia is ninth in assists with 10.41/set, rank ninth in kills with 11.75/set and sixth in blocks with 1.33/set. 
  
Series Notes vs Concordia 
In the all-time series, Saint Benedict owns a 29-21 series lead over Concordia. In home match ups, CSB is 19-7 and sit 18-9 in MIAC contests against Concordia. In the last meeting, CSB took a 3-1 loss on Oct. 30, 2021, but won the first match up, 3-0, on Sept. 22, 1993.  
 
Head Coach Nicole Hess has 303 career wins
In her 13th season, Head Coach Nicole Hess has led CSB to a 14-10 record and 6-4 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 239-115 overall at CSB and 93-38 in MIAC play.  
 
In her 19 seasons overall as a head coach, Hess is 303-247 overall and 108-100 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.