ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Emma Guest, Audrey Spolidoro and Gabby Heying all recorded double-doubles, but the College of Saint Benedict (14-11, 6-5 MIAC, 5^th) dropped a 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 20-25, 21-25) decision to Concordia-Moorhead (9-15, 5-6 MIAC) to close the regular season on Saturday at Claire Lynch Hall.

Bennies earn No. 5 seed and travel to face Bethel
Despite the setback, the Bennies have clinched the No. 5 seed in the upcoming MIAC Tournament. CSB, which was 14-11 overall, finished conference play at 6-5. They will travel to face the No. 4 seed Bethel University when tournament play opens on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Match time will be 7 p.m. The No. 4-seeded Royals (16-9, 8-3 MIAC) are in the playoffs for the eighth straight season and 15th time overall, while the No. 5-seeded Bennies have participated in all but one conference tournament since 2000. 

After Tuesday's quarterfinals, the conference tournament will continue on Thursday with the two semifinal matches. No. 1 seed Gustavus will host the winner of the 4/5 match in St. Peter , Minn., and second-seeded St. Olaf Oles will host the 3/6 winner in Northfield. Both semifinal matches will begin at 7:00 p.m. The semifinal winners will advance to the championship match, which will be played Saturday, November 5, at 7 p.m. on the home court of the top remaining seed. The MIAC Playoff champion will receive the postseason championship plaque and the conference's automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament.

CSB-Concordia Match Breakdown

In her final home match, senior Gabby Heying had 13 kills on 42 attacks for a .190 hitting percentage. She added 16 digs with a pair of block assists. She built onto her career-best season kills total which stands at 328. In addition, she has 933 kills in her career. She also now has 27 career-double-doubles with 55 matches of double-digit kills including 22 in 2022.

Junior outside hitter Emma Guest tied sophomore Paige Andries with a team-high 15 kills. Guest hit .214 as she had 15 on 42 attacks with six errors. She also had 11 digs and now has 10 career double-doubles. Guest also added three block assists. Andries tied a career-high with 15 kills as she hit .448 on 29 attacks and two errors.

Sophomore setter Audrey Spolidoro had 44 set assists and 12 digs as she had another double-double. Spolidoro, who leads the MIAC in assists and ranks ninth in DIII, now has 946 set assists this year and has totaled 1,467 in her career. Additionally, she has 20 career double-doubles with 12 this season.

Overall, tonight, CSB had 54 kills on 182 attacks and with 25 errors registered, a .159 hitting mark. In addition, the Bennies had five players with double-digit digs as they held an 88-to-73 margin over Concordia-Moorhead. The Cobbers hit .216 and with a bit more efficiency won some crucial points in a closely-contest match.

In the opening set, the Bennies out-hit Concordia, .261 (18K, 6E, 46A) to .216 (11K, 3E, 37A) but over the next three sets those numbers would turn. In the second set, the Cobbers hit .263 with 12 kills on 38 attacks and just two errors. CSB had 14 kills on 47 attacks but with eight errors just .128 as they fell, 25-20.

In the third set, CSB again lost a 25-20 decision as the Cobbers had a match-high .283 hitting mark with 16 kills on 46 attacks and just three errors. The had a 70 percent side out percentage. The Bennies hit .111 on 11 kills on 45 attacks but had six errors. CSB had just a 56 percent side out mark. In the final set, CSB had a .136 hitting mark on 11 kills in 44 attacks with five errors. The Cobbers managed 13 kills on 46 attacks but used a 54-to-45 percent side out percentage to gain traction on key points.

The closeness of the match was indicated in 22 tie scores and 11 lead changes.