ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- With six consecutive wins in conference play, the College of Saint Benedict Volleyball Team (13-4) will step outside of the MIAC and play a pair of nonconference opponents while hosting the CSB Quad Tourney on Saturday, Oct. 14 at Claire Lynch Hall. Games begin at 10 a.m. and run throughout the day. CSB is scheduled to face UW-River Falls (15-7) at 12:30 p.m., and Minnesota Morris (13-5) at 5:30 p.m.

CSB QUAD -  SCHEDULE
10 a.m. -- UW-River Falls (15-7) vs. Concordia Moorhead (11-9)
12:30 p.m. -- UW-River Falls (15-7) vs. Saint Benedict (13-4)
3 p.m. -- Concordia-Moorhead (11-9) vs. Minnesota Morris (13-5)
5:30 p.m. -- Minnesota Morris (13-5 vs. Saint Benedict (13-4)

The CSB Volleyball Team has won six games in a row - all MIAC games - to vault into a first-place tie in the conference with Gustavus Adolphus at 6-0. Overall, the Bennies sit 13-4 after a  3-0 win over Macalester in St. Paul on Wednesday (Oct. 11). The Bennies, who have recorded five 3-0 sweeps in 2023, received 10 kills from first-year outside hitter Kali Joones and Audrey Spolidoro had her 31st double double with 27 set assists and 10 digs. CSB head coach Nicole Hess recorded her 99th win in MIAC play.

BENNIES' TEAM NOTES  
In the MIAC, CSB ranks third in the league with 1,062.5 points (15.86/set). CSB is fourth in hitting at .190 with 810 kills on 2,495 attacks. The Bennies sit fourth in kills at 12.09 per set and blocks with 117.5 (1.75/set). CSB is fifth in the MIAC with 10.78 assists per game (722 total), sixth in service aces with 135 (2.01/set) while ranking seventh with 1,047 digs (16.36/set).

In 2023, Mackenzie McDonald, who leads CSB and ranks seventh in the MIAC with 311 digs and fifth with 4.64/set, has earned selection to the Puget Sound Premiere All-Tourney and the UW-River Falls All-Tourney Team. She has 17 service aces and 52 assists in 2023. She now has 1,123 digs in her career with 158 assists and 78 service aces.
 
Kali Jones, who has 156 kills (2.56/set) and 483 attacks while recording five double doubles, was named to the UW-River Falls All Tourney Team. Jones has 11 service aces, 137 digs (2.25/set) and 20 total blocks as a first-year outside hitter.

Sophomore middle blocker Mackenzie Knofczynski, has recorded 155 kills (2.31/set) and is hitting a team-best .291 while registering a team-high 64 blocks or 0.96/set.  She was named to the UW-Whitewater All-Tourney Team. In her career, she has 346 kills (2.09/set) and a .265 hitting mark She also has 127 career blocks.
 
First-year right-side hitter Brooke Andries, who has seven double-figure kills totals, has 130 kills (2.00/set) on a .226 hitting percentage.  

Senior Paige Andries has recorded 100 kills or 1.59/set with 284 attacks and a .229 hitting mark. She has 19 digs, and 37 total blocks. In her career, she has 241 kills (1.67/set) with a .218 hitting mark. Additionally she has 63 total blocks.  
 
Emma Guest, a senior outside hitter, has registered double-doubles in three of the past five games and now has 16 in her career. She leads CSB with 171 kills on 563 attacks and is hitting .174. Guest has 30 service aces, including a high of five against St. Scholastica on Sept, 30, 2023, 203 digs and 15 total blocks. Guest has 601 career kills, 2,043 career attacks, 873 digs and 82 service aces. 

With 9.19 assists per set, junior setter Audrey Spolidoro ranks third in the MIAC and 36th in DIII. Her total of 616 assists is fourth highest in the MIAC and 28th in DIII. She has eight double doubles this season and 31 career double doubles. In her career, Spolidoro has totaled 2,152 career set assists as she continues to move closer to the program's top 10 in the category. In program history, Spolidoro sits behind Vicki Razinger (1992-1993) and Marie Liekhus (1998, 2000-01), who are tied for ninth with 2,243. Lynn Gustafson (1989-91) sits eighth with 2,262 and Katie Koch (2017-21) is seventh at 2,789. Fourteen times this season, Spolidoro has 30 or more set assists.  Spolidoro, who set a career high with 62 set assists against nationally-ranked Washington U on Sept. 15, 2023, has 136 kills with 53 service aces, and 55 total blocks.

SPOLIDORO, GUEST HONORED RECENTLY BY MIAC
After the two CSB wins Sept. 29-30, Spolidoro and Guest of the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team earned Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Athlete of the Week honors. Guest was named the MIAC Offensive Player of the Week while Spolidoro was the Specialty Player of the Week. The dual honor of CSB players by the MIAC was the first since Katie Koch (setter/libero) and Hunter Weiss (hitter of the week) were named on Sept. 3, 2019. For Spolidoro, it was her second honor in three weeks and Guest earned her first-ever award from the league. 

NICOLE HESS LEADS CSB
CSB head coach Nicole Hess has a career mark of 317-255, including 253-122 at Saint Ben's with a 99-39 MIAC record. With Hess at the helm, CSB has won 20 or more games five times with a best of 29 in 2012. In that period, CSB has finished third or better in the MIAC seven times, including second four times. In program history, the Bennies have 21 seasons of 20 wins or more and 16 seasons of at least 25 wins (30 wins three times). She ranks second all-time in wins at CSB with her 253 trailing only Carol Howe-Veenstra, who was 366-150 in her career at CSB including 176-36 in the MIAC. 

CSB HOLDS SERIES LEADS OVER UW-RF, UMM
The College of Saint Benedict holds an overall 9-2 record against UW-River Falls. At Claire Lynch Hall, the Bennies are 3-0 against the Falcons. In Wisconsin, CSB has a 3-2 record.  CSB has an overall 15-3 record against UMN-Morris. At Claire Lynch Hall, the Bennies are 9-1 against the Cougars. On the road, CSB also holds a winning 3-1 record.

MINNESOTA MORRIS NOTES
Minnesota Morris has recorded 760 kills, 1,009 digs, 687 set assists, and 127 service aces in moving to a 13-5 record.  The Cougars have been led by Laura Wellbrock in both kills with 150 and service aces at 27.  Ava Brunn leads UMN-Morris in digs (282) and McKenzie Newton totals 514 set assists.The Cougars have a 6-3 record over UWRF. Against CSB, Minnesota Morris has a 3-15 overall record with a 1-9 record on the road and a 1-3 record at home against the Bennies.

UW-RIVER FALLS NOTES
UW-River Falls, which is 15-7 to this point in the season, has recorded an overall 6-3 series record over Concordia Moorhead. Against the College of Saint Benedict, the Falcons have a 2-9 record with a 0-3 home record and a 2-3 record on the road. UW-River Falls has 1,022 kills, 1,348 digs, 921 set assists, and 133 aces as a team. Kameri Meredith leads the Falcons in both aces with 29 and kills with 244. In addition, Sami Hilley has 207 kills (2.56/set) on 426 attacks for a .415 hitting mark. Brenna Olson leads the way defensively with 339 digs. Grace Boles is the leader for UWRF with 483 set assists.

CONCORDIA-MOORHEAD NOTES  
Concordia Moorhead, which has an 11-9 overall, trails the series with UW-River Falls, 6-3. Against Minnesota-Morris the Cobbers have posted an overall 12-7 record. At home they also have a winning record of 5-3. On the road, Concordia Moorhead is 7-3. As a team, the Cobbers have totaled 1,038 kills, 962 set assists, 1,638 digs and 149 service aces. Leading the way in kills for the Cobbers is Brooke Carney with 222 (2.8/set) while Mallory Leitner had 211 (2.81/set). Chloe Markovic leads the way defensively with 432 digs. Kaia Lill has a team-high 817 set assists while Hannah Mooney adds 35 service aces.