ST. PAUL, Minn. –- Kali Jones and Audrey Spolidoro led the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team to a sixth straight victory (13-4, 6-0 MIAC) in a 3-0 decision (25-16, 25-18, 25-11) over Macalester (7-11, 1-3 MIAC) on Wednesday, October 11 at Claire Lynch Hall.

With a sixth straight MIAC win, CSB sits in a tie for first place (Gustavus Adolphus, 17-4, 6-0) in the conference at 6-0 after their fifth sweep of the year. After the win tonight, Saint Benedict returns home to host the CSB Quad Tourney on Saturday, Oct. 14 at Claire Lynch Hall. The Bennies will play UW-River Falls and Minnesota Morris in nonconference play.

CSB head coach Nicole Hess, who earned her 99^th career MIAC win at Saint Benedict, was pleased with her team's energy, effort and focus in a road environment. 

"I am very happy with the composure we played with tonight," said Hess. "It is not easy playing on the road in the MIAC and we stayed calm and kept competing. Every night in this league is a battle and tonight was no different," she said.

Junior setter Audrey Spolidoro had her 31^st career double double with 27 assists and 10 digs. Spolidoro, who has twice earned MIAC Volleyball Specialist of the Week honors in 2023, also had two service aces and a block.

First-year Kali Jones had 10 kills on 23 attacks for a .348 hitting mark. She registered her ninth double-digit kills game. Senior Emma Guest added seven kills on 31 attacks with 15 digs. Sophomore Mackenzie Knofczynski had six kills on 19 attacks and a .263 hitting mark. She added three blocks assists. Senior Paige Andries also had five kills on 13 swings and a .231 hitting mark. Senior Mackenzie McDonald recorded a team-high 19 digs as she reached double digits for the 16^th time in 17 games.

CSB dominated the statistics including holding a 30-to-23 kills edge. CSB, which had 10 service aces in a game for the seventh time this year, also had a 9-to-6 blocks edge and a 65-to-56 digs margin.

Game Summary --
In the opening set, Macalester jumped to a 12-0 lead before the Bennies rallied for the come from behind victory. CSB, which had nine kills on 33 assists, had a remarkable rally from a double-digit point deficit. With a 16-3 run, the Bennies grabbed a 16-15 lead. From there, the Bennies had a 9-to-1 run to close the first set at 25-16 after kills from Guest and P. Andries.

In the second set, the Bennies jumped to a 4-0 lead on their way to a 25-18 win and a 2-0 lead. CSB, which had 10 kills on 46 attacks, had five blocks and two aces in rolling to the win. CSB opened with a 12-5 run. After a kill from Jones and a service ace from Chaeli Haupert, the Bennies had a 22-16 lead before closing it out five points later.

In the third set, CSB closed out game with a dominant 25-11 set victory as the Bennies hit a game-high of .300 with 11 kills and 30 assists and just two errors. CSB opened a 9-5 lead and then finished off the set with a 16-6 run, including game-closing kills from Grace Holm and Mackenzie McDonald.