ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team (8-11, 4-3 MIAC), which has won five of its past seven games, faces a road test against Carleton (12-10, 3-5 MIAC) on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m., as the Bennies start of a three-game road trip.

After facing Carleton, St. Ben's will travel to Concordia-Moorhead for a 7 p.m., contest on Saturday, Nov. 2. They finish at Saint Mary's on Wednesday, Nov. 6 and at home against St. Olaf on Saturday, Nov. 9.

How things sit in MIAC
St. Ben's has recorded eight wins in 19 contests with a 4-3 MIAC record for fifth place in the league. With the top six teams in the conference advancing to the MIAC Tourney, the final four games of the season are important for the Bennies. St. Ben's sits a half game ahead of St. Olaf at 4-4 (17-8 overall) for fifth place in the MIAC. The Bennies are 1 ½ games in front of Carleton at 3-5 (12-10) overall with Macalester is also at 3-5 (11-14). Gustavus leads the MIAC at 8-0 – 17-9 overall followed by Bethel and St. Catherine at 7-1 while Augsburg is 6-2 and two games ahead of CSB. 

St. Benedict recently dropped a 3-1 decision to Bethel (17-6, 7-1 MIAC) in MIAC play on the road on Oct. 12. CSB had 3-1 wins over Macalester on Oct. 11 and College of St. Scholastica (11-13, 1-5 MIAC) on Oct. 5 before defeating Hamline, 3-0, on Oct. 25 and falling to league leader and (RV) Gustavus Adolphus, 3-1, on Oct. 26.

Series Records
In the match up with Carleton, CSB owns a 30-7 record as the teams will meet for a 38^th time. The Bennies, which has won eight straight games, won in three sets, 3-0, on Oct. 25, 2023, winning 25-18, 25-20 and 26-24 at Claire Lynch Hall. CSB is 13-4 at home, 14-2 at Carleton and 24-7 in MIAC play. In the first-ever matchup, CSB, which has gone 8-2 in the last 10 games against the Knights, took a 3-0 win on Sept. 10, 1993. 

Inside look at Carleton
The Knights are led by second year head coach Abby Walton, a native of Lakeville, Minn., who play at Michigan State from 2024-27. The Knights, which sit 3-5 in league play, averaged 11.3 kills per set with 936 total n the season. They average 10.1 assists, 2.4 service aces, 15.3 digs and 1.5 blocks per set. With 2.54 kills/set (211), Sylvia Dixon leads Carleton, which has a 2.52 kills/set (189) from Kerrigan Candra while Megan Smith has supplied 6.07 assists (504).

Inside Look at St. Benedict
St. Benedict, directed by 15th-year head coach Nicole Hess, has recorded a total of 955 kills on the season, averaging 12.4 kills per set for fifth in the MIAC. CSB is also ranked fifth in the MIAC in set assists at 11.33 per set while sitting third for 1.8 blocks per set. CSB is third in the MIAC with 137 total blocks and ranks fifth in the league in hitting at .172.

Senior setter Audrey Spolidoro, leads the team in assists with 742, leaving her second in the MIAC, while also recording 51 career double doubles. A two-time All-MIAC and returning AVCA honorable mention all-region performer who has earned two All-MIAC Specialist of the Week honors this year, she is just the third CSB student-athlete to reach 3K in assists and 1K in digs. She is averaging 9.64 assists per set (2^nd, MIAC) and a total of 742. She now has 255 digs for 3.31 digs/set with 43 blocks (0.56 blocks/set) and 0.30 service aces (23 total.)   In addition, Spolidoro has accumulated 54 kills on 174 attacks with just four errors for a .287 hitting mark. Spolidoro has play 355 sets across 94 matches in her career, accumulating 212 kills (0.60/set) on 777 attacks for a .201 hitting mark. On the 3,207 assists, she ranks sixth all-time at CSB as she has averaged 9.03 assists per set and registered 84 services aces along with 1,007 digs or 2.84/set. She also has totaled 356 points with her 100 points this year just 9.5 away from her career best 109.5 in 2022. Her 9.64 assists/set this year is just off her career best of 10.15 in 2022.

This year, Spolidoro has had 15 double doubles (assists/digs) and now has 51 in her career. She has recorded nine games of 40 or more assists with two over 50, including a high of 55 vs Cortland on August 31. Her career high in assists is 62 vs Washington U on Sept. 15, 2023. He has a career best 22 digs and seven blocks, both against Simpson this year on Sept. 20, 2024.
 
At the net, Saint Benedict is led by sophomore, Kali Jones, who has recorded 232 kills on the season (8th in MIAC) with 241 digs, and 36 serve aces. She is just seven kills from bettering her total of 239 a year ago with her kills/set of 3.01 up from 2.54/kills set last year. Her 36 aces are 13 more than a year ago and she already has surpassed her digs total of 215 from last year. She also has scored 280 points, which is 4.5 above last year. She has 19 double doubles in her career with 11 this season.  

McKenna Moehrle, a sophomore middle blocker, is hitting .230 with 200 kills on 501 attacks, or 2.60 kills/set. She also has 57 blocks or 0.74 per set. Twelve times, she has reached double digits and has 15 kills in a game four times.

Mackenzie Knofczynski is averaging 0.92 blocks per set for first in the MIAC and her 71 total blocks is second in the MIAC.  She has totaled 178 kills or 2.31/set with 471 attacks and a .214 hitting mark. She has 224 career blocks, including a career-best 90 a year ago. In addition, she has 587 kills on 1,574 career attacks with 12 service aces.

Chaeli Haupert ranks first on CSB with 303 digs or 3.94/set. She also has 21 service aces.
 
Hess leads CSB Volleyball
In 14 seasons, head coach Nicole Hess, who is coaching her 15^th season, has had tremendous success. She was inducted into the St. Olaf Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015 and has coached 12 All-Americans, 75 All-Central Region players, 34 All-MIAC athletes and 49 athletes who earned Academic All-MIAC honors. She is 265-140 overall at CSB and 106-44 in MIAC play. In her 21 seasons overall as a head coach, Hess is 329-272 overall and 121-106 in conference play. She recorded her 300th win with a 3-0 win over Macalester on Oct. 7, 2022. Hess led CSB to a national tournament berth each year from 2011-15, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2012, and made it back to the NCAA Tournament each year from 2017-19 with a 26-8 record and another Sweet 16 trip in 2018 and a 26-6 record and an Elite 8 appearance in 2019. She has won 18 or more games in nine of her 14 seasons, including four seasons with 21 wins or more.