ARDEN HILLS, MINN. – When the playoffs start, it is all about win and advance. And, the College of Saint Benedict Women's Volleyball Team (15-11) did just that Tuesday night with sterling play at the net from Grace Holm, Emma Guest and Gabby Heying leading the fifth-seeded Bennies to a 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-18) win over fourth-seeded Bethel (16-10) in the quarterfinals of the MIAC Tournament.

St. Ben's, which is now 12-9 all-time with head coach Nicole Hess (304^th career win) in MIAC Tourney play, now advances to the MIAC semifinals where they will face No. 1 seed Gustavus Adolphus (23-4), which was the regular season MIAC champion, at 7 pm on Thursday, Nov. 3 in St. Peter, Minn.

As for tonight, the Bennies not only broke a four-match losing skein but did so in impressive fashion, albeit coming in a tough road environment. After dropping the opening set, 25-20, they grabbed the momentum and won three straight sets by scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-18. CSB turned the tables on Bethel which won an earlier matchup, 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-23) on Sept. 28 also in St. Paul.

The play at the net was supplemented by solid passing, led by sophomore Audrey Spolidoro, who had a double-double (22^nd of her career) of 45 assists and 14 digs to go with four kills (.667 hitting mark) as she is approaching 1,000 set assists on the year with 991. With those assists, she surpassed 1,500 in her career (1,512).

Grace Holm made her fifth start of the year memorable by matching a career-best 12 kills (Concordia, Oct. 30, 2021) while hitting .296 on 27 attacks. She reached double-digits kills for the third time in her career.

Both Guest and Heying continued to put up double-doubles. Heying led CSB with 14 kills (.151 hitting percentage) and 12 digs. The senior now has 28 career double doubles and 55 matches with double-digit kills with 23 in 2022. She pushed her career kills mark to 937. As for Guest, the junior had her 11^th double double this season as he surpassed 300 kills on the season (309) with 12 on 34 attacks (.147 hitting mark) while recording 15 digs. Also making a solid contribution was middle blocker Paige Andries who had eight kills on 29 attacks as she has at least eight kills in three straight matches.

Overall, Bethel held slight advantages in in kills and blocks, but CSB converted crucial points and broke free on several runs which allowed them to open leads over the final three sets. CSB hit .190 with 54 kills on 163 attacks and 23 errors. BU had 56 kills on 166 attacks with 25 errors for a .187 mark. Both teams had seven service aces while the Royals had a 13-to-5 margin in total blocks.

Despite CSB losing the opening set, Holm was a difference maker. She had four kills in six attacks for a 667 hitting mark to keep the Bennies close. But a run in the middle of the set gave Bethel a five-point lead at 18-13. CSB rallied to within 20-19 on consecutive service aces by Chaeli Haupert. While CSB hit just .086 with 10 kills on 35 attacks and seven errors, the Royals ability to blocked proved important. BU, which hit .195 with 14 kills, also had four blocks to just one for St. Ben's. And they closed on a 5-1 run to win, 25-20.

As was the case in the opening set, the two teams traded points early in set two with a kill by Heying tying the match at 5-5. A service ace and kill by Dani Friedges gave BU a 10-7 lead. Three straight kills from Heying enabled the Bennies to rally from three down to take a 12-11 lead with a 4-0 run. BU answered with a 3-0 run before Holm's fifth kill started a 4-0 run by CSB for a 16-14 lead. With her sixth kill of the match, Guest gave CSB a 23-19 lead. Down 24-20, BU scored three straight points to cut the lead to 24-23. Then, Guest stepped up with a kill to stop the rally and give CSB a 25-23 win and a 1-1 tie in the match. In the second set, BU had a 15-10 kills edge, but the Bennies took advantage of their timely conversions at the net and had a pair of service aces to go with a block. CSB hit .128 with 10 kills.

CSB used the momentum of that set two win to gain a foothold early in set three. A pair of kills by Heying led to a 6-2 lead. Later, Holm had her ninth kill of the match for a 16-13 advantage. A kill from Guest, her ninth of the match, gave the Bennies an 18-14 advantage. With Guest and Mackenzie Knofcznski providing kills, CSB took a 23-18 lead. Then, Heying reached double-digits (10) in kills which was followed by a kill by Andries three points later for a 25-23 set win by the Bennies, which hit .289 with 18 kills on 45 attacks. BU had a .250 percentage with 16 kills on 48 attacks as both teams had solid efforts at the net.

In the fourth set, Andries continued to shine at the net with a pair of kills to draw CSB even at 7-7. A service ace from Lexi Orr and a kill by Knofcznski gave CSB a 13-9 lead. From that point, CSB was in control. A 6-3 run, featuring a pair of kills from Heying, pushed the lead by the Bennies to 19-12. BU responded with three straight points to cut into the deficit. But it didn't change the momentum as Heying recorded her 14^th kill for a 20-15 lead. Holm had yet another kill as CSB led, 23-17 and shortly thereafter the Bennies closed out the 25-18 win.