ST JOSEPH, Minn.-- After opening the season 9-4, the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team (9-4, 2-0 MIAC) will begin a three-game home stand on Friday (Sept. 29) when they host a trio of MIAC games from Friday, Sept. 29 through Wednesday, Oct. 4 at Claire Lynch Hall. CSB opens with Saint Mary's (7-10, 0-2 MIAC) at 7 p.m., on Friday. Then, on Saturday, CSB will face the College of Saint Scholastica (2-12, 0-2 MIAC) at 5 p.m., before welcoming Bethel on Wednesday, Oct. 4.
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Series Notes
This will be the 38th meeting with Saint Mary's as the Bennies have an overall series lead of 26-11. CSB has an 11-6 record at home inside of the friendly confines of Claire Lynch Hall. In 2022, the Bennies defeated the Cardinals, 3-2, on October 14 in Saint Joseph, Minn.
When CSB meets St. Scholastica on Saturday afternoon, the teams will play for a 23rd time. CSB has an overall record of 17-5 against the College of Saint Scholastica. CSB has a 6-1 record at Claire Lynch Hall. In 2022, the Bennies defeated the Saints 3-0 on October 1 in Duluth, 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 went 3-0 in the UW-River Falls Tournament. The Bennies then had a 1-2 record on September 15-16 in 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 in three straight sets. Then, they defeated Augsburg 3-1 in the MIAC opener before defeating St. Catherine, 3-1 last weekend.
CSB Honors and Notes
So far this season, senior Mackenzie McDonald, who leads CSB and ranks fourth in the MIAC with 239 digs (4.43/set), has earned selection to the Puget Sound Premiere All-Tourney and the UW-River Falls All-Tourney Team. McDonald ranks 46th nationally and fourth in the MIAC with 239 total digs. She has a career-best 38 digs against Gustavus Adolphus on April 28, 2021. In her career, she now has 1,053 digs or 4.21/set with 76 service aces (15 in 2023).
Kali Jones, who ranks eighth in the MIAC and leads CSB with 144 kills (2.67/set) and 467 attacks while recording eight double doubles, was named to the UW-River Falls All Tourney Team. A first year outside hitter, she has eight double-digit kills this year with 19 kills her career-best against Simpson on Sept. 8 and St. Catherine on Sept. 23.
Sophomore middle blocker Mackenzie Knofczynski, who has recorded 120 kills (2.22/set) and is hitting .287 while registering a team-high 53 blocks, was named to the UW-Whitewater All-Tourney Team. She ranks 18th in DIII with 53 total blocks, a total which is first in the MIAC. She is second in the MIAC with 0.98 blocks per set. The sophomore middle blocker is also fifth in the MIAC in hitting percentage at .287. Seven times, she has double-digit kills this season and set her career high with 15 kills on Sept. 15, 2023, against then No. 7 Washington U.
Junior setter Audrey Spolidoro earned MIAC Volleyball Specialist of the Week honors on September 18th - her first weekly conference honor. She averaged 8.67 assists per set and had a career-game-best 62 set assists in a win over then No. 7 Washington University-St. Louis. During three matches against a trio of nationally ranked teams, Spolidoro shined with 117 assists, two double-doubles, four kills, 20 attacks, two service aces and six block assists this past weekend.
Spolidoro, who has 28 career double doubles, is approaching CSB's top-10 list for total assists in a career with 2,004. She 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. She has 468 set assists this season, which ranks 21st in DIII and fourth in the MIAC. She is also fourth in the MIAC with 8.67 set assists per set.
Emma Guest, a senior outside hitter, recorded her third double double of the season and the 14th in her career with 16 kills and 19 digs in the win over St. Catherine. She is averaging 2.22 kills per set with 120 total kills in 2023. She has a .159 hitting mark and 19 services aces to go with her 153 digs. Guest has 550 career kills,1,907 career attacks, 633 digs and 71 service aces. Four times this year she has reached double-digit kills. 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.
First-year right side hitter, Brooke Andries has six games with double-digit kills with a high of 14 against Eastern on Sept. 2. She is averaging 2.32 kills/set with 105 on the season to go with 278 total attacks.
By the Numbers
CSB ranks 39th in NCAA DIII and third in the MIAC with 96.5 total team blocks. The Bennies are 48th in DIII in total kills with 630 and 54th in total digs with 854.
In league play, CSB is fifth in hitting percentage at .178 with 631 kills on 2,005 attacks. CSB has the fourth most kills and fourth most attacks in the MIAC. The Bennies also rank fifth in assists with 558 or 10.33 as a team. In addition, CSB is third in the MIAC with 1.79 blocks per set and ranks tenth with 1.70 service aces per set.
About the Cardinals
Saint Mary's went 0-3 last weekend, falling to No. 18 Gustavus-Adolphus (3-0), Concordia College (3-0), and Central College (3-2). The Cardinals will be led by head coach Amber Zitzow who will be entering her 2nd season. Zitzow has a 9-18 overall record at Saint Mary's with a 2-11 MIAC conference record. Saint Mary's is led by Ciarra McNally who has recorded 256 kills, 175 digs, 11 service errors and a hitting percentage of .169. Kali Olson leads the team in blocks with 23 block assists and 10 solo blocks for a total of 33.
About the Saints
The College of Saint Scholastica went 0-3 last week and fell to Carleton College (1-3), Augsburg University (0-3), Luther College (0-3). The Saints will be led by Chelsea Meierotto for her first season at Scholastica. Before CSS, Meierotto spent time at Northland College in the UMAC. Ava Swangstue leads the team recording 91 kills, 20 digs, 4 service errors and a hitting percentage of .198. Delaney Schaffer leads the team in blocks with 11 block assists and six solo blocks for a total of 17.
