ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The second-seeded College of Saint Benedict volleyball team (17-9) will begin the 2023 postseason by hosting third-seeded St. Olaf College (20-8)- in the MIAC Tournament Semifinals on Thursday at 7 p.m., at Claire Lynch Hall.
In advance of the playoff matchup, CSB Volleyball is promoting a "Whiteout" at Claire Lynch Hall and asking fans to bring their rally towels. The Bennies have a 7-2 home record in 2023.
Overall CSB has a 17-9 record, and, with a 9-2 MIAC record, secured second place in the MIAC. As a result, the Bennies earned a first-round bye and the right to host one of two MIAC semifinals matchups on Thursday, Nov. 9. In the other game, No. 18 and top-seeded Gustavus (23-6) will host No. 4 seeded St. Catherine (16-9). All four MIAC playoff teams are ranked in the top seven of the NCAA DIII rankings.
Per MIAC policy, admission will be charged for the MIAC Playoffs. Tickets are $10 for adults and $2 for students with ID. Children five and under will be admitted for free. MIAC passes will be accepted, but no other passes will be honored.
CSB ranked fifth in NCAA DIII Region IX Rankings
In the most recent NCAA DIII Region IX rankings the Bennies were ranked fifth.
Regional IX Rankings
1. Northwestern (27-4)
2. Gustavus Adolphus(23-6)
3. Cornell (20-7)
4. St. Olaf (20-8)
5. Saint Benedict (17-9)
6. St. Catherine (15-9)
7. Nebraska Wesleyan (21-7)
The NCAA DIII Volleyball Selection Announcement of 64 teams will be made at 1 p.m., on Monday, Nov. 13.
Click here to watch.
St. Olaf Notes
Through 25 games, St. Olaf sits 20-8 overall with a 7-4 league mark. The Oles are directed by eighth-year head coach Emily Foster, who has a 135-75 record in her career. St. Olaf leads the MIAC in kills with 13.71/set or 1,453 in total. The Oles are hitting .167 for fourth in the MIAC and sit first in the conference in assists at 1,378 or 13.00 per set. Catherine Moore leads St. Olaf with 345 kills or 3.25 /set while Anysia Caille has 333 kills or 3.14/set. Paige Christophersen has 603 assists (5.69/set) while Skylar
Fildew has 540 assists (5.09/set).
CSB/St. Olaf Series Notes
In the series, the two teams will meet for the 54th time with the Bennies owning a 31-23 edge. At home CSB is 18-4 and sit 8-13 in away games against the Oles. In the MIAC, CSB has a 19-11 advantage. In the last game, St. Olaf took a 3-0 win (22-25, 21-25, 19-25) on Nov. 3, 2023 in Northfield, Minn.. In the first-ever matchup, the Oles recorded a 3-2 win over CSB on Oct. 11, 1993.
Bennies' Team Notes
In the MIAC, CSB ranks third in the league with 1,516.5 points (15.63/set). CSB is sixth in hitting at .172 with 1,165 kills on 3,723 attacks. The Bennies sit fourth in kills at 12.01 per set and blocks with 160.5 (1.65/set). CSB is fifth in the MIAC with 10.66 assists per game (1034 total), sixth in service aces with 191 (1.97/set) while ranking fourth with 1,677 digs (17.29/set).
Guest, Spolidoro, Knofczynski named to All-MIAC Team
Senior
Emma Guest, junior
Audrey Spolidoro and sophomore
Mackenzie Knofczynski of the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team have been named to the All-MIAC Team, according to an announcement by the MIAC office today (Nov. 8).
Guest, a senior business major from Oak Grove, Minn., and
Spolidoro, a junior physics major from Cottage Grove, Minn., both earned their second consecutive
All-MIAC first team honor. Guest and
Spolidoro are the 32nd and 33rd student-athletes in program history with two or more
All-MIAC honors. Knofczynski, a sophomore biology major from Willmar, Minn., was named to the
All-MIAC first team for the first time.
The trio of standouts have helped lead the CSB Volleyball Team to a 17-9 overall record and 9-2 in the MIAC for second place. By finishing second, the Bennies will be seeded No. 2 and host No. 3 St. Olaf on Thursday at 7 p.m., at Claire Lynch Hall.
CSB volleyball has had three student-athletes honored by the league for the 10th time since 2000. In addition, St. Ben's has had at least one player honored every year since the mid 1980s. For the MIAC release on all-league honorees,
click here.
A total of 22 MIAC players were named all-conference and six received honorable mention distinctions. All awards were nominated by and voted on by the 12 MIAC head volleyball coaches; any nominated player not selected as all-conference but still receiving votes from at least three coaches was named honorable mention.
Guest registered double doubles seven times this year and now has 21 in her career. She leads CSB with 251 kills (2.59/set, 13
th in the MIAC) on 860 attacks and is hitting .149. Guest ranks
ninth in the MIAC with 43 service aces, including a high of five against St.
Scholastica on Sept 30, 2023. She has totaled 311 digs, including reaching double-digits 16 times, and 22 total blocks. In 77 games and 277 sets in her career, Guest has 681 career kills (2.46/set), 2,340 career attacks, 791 digs and 95 service aces. She recorded a career-best 23 kills vs Saint Mary's on Oct. 14, 2022 with 23 digs vs Hamline on Oct. 20, 2023. In her career, Guest, who hit a career-best .542 vs. Saint Mary's on Sept. 29, 2023, has 29 double-digit kills totals, including 10 in 2023.
With 9.19 assists per set,
Spolidoro ranks fourth in the MIAC and 37th in DIII
. Her total of 891 assists is fourth highest in the MIAC and 36
th in DIII
. She has 13 double doubles this season and 36 career double doubles. In terms of digs, she has 286 this year and 740 in her career. Twice she had a career-high of 19 digs in a game, both this year (Puget Sound, 9/1/23; Hamline, 10/20/23). Thirteen times in 2023, she has double-digit digs. In her career of 74 games and 274 sets, she has accumulated 2,427 set assists,
Spolidoro
has
moved into eighth on the CSB all-time career chart. Spolidoro, who set a career-high with 62 set assists against nationally ranked Washington U on Sept. 15, 2023, has 157 kills with 61 service aces, and 73 total blocks in her career. Seventeen times this season, she has 30 or more set assists and surpassed 40 seven times.
Knofczynski has recorded 214 kills (2.23/set) and owns a hitting percentage of .226 while registering a team-high 87 blocks (0.91/set), which leads the MIAC. Sixteen times, Knofczynski has recorded three or more blocks in a game this year with a high of eight against Simpson on Sept. 8, 2023. Named to the UW-Whitewater All-Tourney Team, Knofczynski has had double digit kill totals 10 times season (17/career). She recorded a career-high of 15 vs nationally-ranked Washington University on Sept. 15, 2023. In her career, she has played in 53 games and 195 sets, accumulating 405 kills (2.08/set) and a .237 hitting mark. She also has 150 career blocks (87, 2023; 63, 2022). Knofczynski also has recorded 72 digs in her career with 26 this year. She had a career-best 18 digs against Berea on Sept. 2, 2022.
Other Individual Notes for CSB
In 2023, first-year outside hitter Kali Jones has 230 kills (2.56/set) and 765 attacks while recording six double doubles. Named to the UW-River Falls All Tourney Team, Jones has 22 service aces, 202 digs (2.24/set) and 24 total blocks. Thirteen times this season, she has registered double-digit totals in kills with a high of 19 against St. Catherine on Sept. 23 and Simpson on Sept. 8.
First-year right-side hitter Brooke Andries, who has eight double-figure kills totals, has 178 kills (1.91/set) on a .203 hitting percentage with 44 blocks. She has a high of 14 kills against Eastern on Sept. 2, 2023.
Senior Paige Andries has recorded 154 kills (1.66/set) with 422 attacks and a .246 hitting mark. She has 32 digs, and 58 total blocks. nine times in her career, including four times in 2023, she has recorded double-digit kills with a high of 15 vs. St. Catherine on Oct. 26, 2022, and Concordia-Moorhead on Oct. 29, 2022. In her career, she has 295 kills (1.71/set) with a .229 hitting mark. Additionally, she has 84 total blocks.
Spolidoro/Guest earn MIAC Athlete of the Week honors Sept. 29-30
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.
CSB is led by HC Nicole Hess
CSB head coach Nicole Hess has a career mark of 321-260, including 257-127 at Saint Ben's with a 102-41 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 eight times, including second five times including in 2023. 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).Hess ranks second all-time in wins at CSB with her 257 trailing only Carol
Howe-Veenstra, who was 366-150 in her career at CSB including 176-36 in the MIAC.
