ST JOSEPH, Minn.-- With a four-game winning streak, the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team (11-4, 4-0 MIAC) will host Bethel (4-10, 1-2 MIAC) in MIAC play at 7 p.m., on Wednesday, Oct 4 at Claire Lynch Hall. CSB, which leads the MIAC with a 4-0 record, will close a three-game home stand as they face the Royals. 
 
After the game on Wednesday night, CSB volleyball will travel to face Macalester in St. Paul, at 7 p.m., on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at the Leonard Center.
 
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Series Notes:
The Bennies have an overall record of 26-15 against Bethel University. CSB has a 13-3 record at home inside of the friendly confines of Claire Lynch Hall.  In 2022, the Bennies defeated the Royals, 3-1, on November 1 in Arden Hills, Minn.
 
Quick Review - Season
The Bennies opened up their season with a 3-1 record at the Puget Sound Premiere hosted in Tacoma, Washington. The Bennies then hosted UW-Eau Claire for their home opener and fell, 3-1. On Sept. 8-9, the Bennies finished 3-0 at the UW-River Falls Tournament. Next, CSB had a 1-2 record on September 15-16 at the UW-Whitewater Invite. CSB fell to No. 10 UW-Whitewater, 1-3, on Friday, Sept. 15. Later that day, they defeated No. 7 Washington U-St. Louis in five sets, 3-2. On Sept. 16, CSB was defeated by No. 3 UW-Oshkosh, 3-0.  The Bennies defeated Augsburg 3-1 in the MIAC opener on Sept. 20 before defeating St. Catherine, 3-1, on Sept. 23. CSB defeated Saint Mary's University (Minn.), 3-0, on September 29 and the College of St Scholastica, 3-1, September 30, at home as Emma Guest averaged 4.57 kills per set and Audrey Spolidoro had 11.86 set assists per set in the two home wins which put CSB 4-0 in league play.
 
CSB Honors and Notes 
So far this season, Mackenzie McDonald, who leads CSB and ranks fourth in the MIAC with 275 digs (4.51/set), has earned selection to the Puget Sound Premiere All-Tourney and the UW-River Falls All-Tourney Team. McDonald also ranks fifth in the conference in digs per set.
 
Kali Jones, who ranks 15th in the MIAC and is second for CSB with 146 kills (2.52/set) and 483 attacks while recording five double doubles, was named to the UW-River Falls All Tourney Team. Jones also ranks tenth in the conference in total attacks.

Sophomore middle blocker Mackenzie Knofczynski, who has recorded 140 kills (2.30/set) and is hitting .293 while registering a team-high 60 blocks, was named to the UW-Whitewater All-Tourney Team. Knofczynski ranks 18th nationally and first in the conference in total blocks (60) and blocks per set (0.98/set).
 
First-year right-side hitter Brooke Andries, who has seven double-figure kills totals, has 121 kills (2.05/set) on a .233 hitting percentage.
 
Emma Guest, a senior outside hitter, recorded her third double double of the season and the 14^th in her career with 16 kills and 19 digs in the win over St. Catherine. She is averaging 2.49 kills per set with 152 total kills in 2023. She has a .188 hitting mark and 26 services aces to go with her 173 digs. Guest has 582 career kills,1,975 career attacks, 653 digs and 78 service aces. Six times this year she has reached double-digit kills and has 15 career double-doubles. In her career, she has a top mark of 23 kills at Saint Mary's on Oct. 14, 2022, and three times has had 20 digs in a game, including against Simpson on Sept. 8, 2023.
 
With 9.03 assists per set, junior setter Audrey Spolidoro ranks third in the MIAC and 38th in DIII. Her total of 551 is fourth highest in the MIAC and 19th in DIII. She has 29 career double doubles and totaled 2,087 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 eight with 2,262 and Katie Koch (2017-21) is seventh at 2,789. Thirteen times this season, Spolidoro has 30 or more set assists. In addition, she has six double-doubles and 29 in her career. 

Spolidoro and Guest named MIAC Athletes of the Week
After the two 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. This is the first time since Katie Koch (setter/libero) and Hunter Weiss (hitter of the week) on Sept. 3, 2019 in which two CSB volleyball standouts have earned the MIAC's weekly honors at the same time. For Spolidoro, it is her second honor in three weeks and Guest earned her first-ever award from the league. In two games, Guest had 32 kills (4.57/set) on 68 attacks and a .368 hitting mark. In the win over St. Scholastica on Saturday (Sept. 30), she had a game-high 17 kills (second most this season) on 44 attacks and a .273 hitting mark. Guest, who has six double-digit kills games, also had 12 digs and a season-high five service aces, which was one short of her career-best (six, vs. Sewanee, 9/9/2022). On Friday (Sept. 29), she registered a career-best .542 hitting percentage off 15 kills on 24 attacks. She also had eight digs and a pair of service aces in an all-around performance.  Spolidoro, who was MIAC Specialty Player of the Week on Sept. 18, averaged 11.86 set assists and 3.57 digs in the two wins. Spolidoro had two kills, eight digs, two service aces, a solo block and 36 assists on 70 total attacks (.514) in the win over Saint Mary's.  In the St. Scholastica victory, Spolidoro had 47 kills, 17 digs, two block assists and a kill. 
 
By the Numbers
CSB ranks 51st in DIII and second in the MIAC with 106.5 total team blocks as Knofczynski is 18th in DIII and leads the conference with 60 total blocks. McDonald ranks fourth in the MIAC with 275 total digs. In total assists, Spolidoro sits 19th in DIII with 551.
 
In league play, CSB is fifth in hitting percentage at .188 with 731 kills on 2,252 attacks. CSB has the fifth most kills and fourth most attacks in the MIAC. The Bennies also rank fifth in assists with 652 or 10.69 as a team. In addition CSB is third in the MIAC with 1.75 blocks per set and ranks seventh with 1.90 service aces per set.
 
About the Royals:
Bethel University have gone 1-2 in the last three matches after defeating Carleton 3-0 on Saturday (September 30) The Royals will be led by head coach Gretchen Hunt who will be entering her 23rd season. Hunt has a 399-254 record at Bethel.  The Royals are led by Dani Friedges who has recorded 187 kills, 159 digs, 14 service errors and a hitting percentage of .185. Abigail Drury leads the team in blocks with 32 block assists and 13 solo blocks for a total of 45.
 
CSB led by Head Coach Nicole Hess 
CSB Head Coach Nicole Hess has a career mark of 315-255, including 251-122 at Saint Ben's with a 97-39 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 251 trailing only Carol Howe-Veenstra, who was 366-150 in her career at CSB including 176-36 in the MIAC.