ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team (9-11, 5-3 MIAC), which has won six of its past eight games, faces a road test against Concordia-Moorhead (2-21, 2-6 MIAC) on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m., as the Bennies continue a three-game road trip.

After facing Concordia-Moorhead, St. Ben's will complete their road trip at Saint Mary's for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The Bennies will return home for the last regular season matchup against St. Olaf on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 5 pm.
 

How things sit in MIAC
With three games to go in the regular season, St. Ben's has a 5-3 MIAC record for fifth place in the league. With the top six teams in the conference advancing to the MIAC Tourney, the final three 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 three games in front of Carleton at 3-6 (12-11) overall with Macalester is at 3-5 (11-14) and two games behind CSB. 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. CSB defeated Carleton (12-11, 3-6 MIAC) on the road 3-1 on Oct. 30 as sophomore middle blocker McKenna Moehrle recorded a career-best 18 kills and .517 hitting mark. CSB's Audrey Spolidoro (33A/15D) and Kali Jones (14K/16D) both recorded double doubles. 

Series Records
In the match up with Concordia, CSB owns a 30-22 record as the teams will meet for a 53rd time. The Bennies, which won the last matchup between the two and won in three sets, 3-0, on Oct. 28, 2023, winning 25-15, 25-16 and 25-20 at Claire Lynch Hall. CSB is 20-8 at home, 9-10 at Concordia, and 19-10 in MIAC play. In the first-ever matchup, CSB, which has gone 7-3 in the last 10 games against the Cobbers, took a 3-0 win on Sept. 22, 1993. 

Inside look at Concordia
The Cobbers are led by fifth year head coach Faith Radermacher. The Cobbers, which sit 2-6 in league play, average 9.13 kills per set with 694 on the season. They average 8.12 assists, 1.03 service aces, 15.27 digs and 1.13 blocks per set. With 2.26 kills/set (172), Mallory Leitner leads Concordia, which has a 1.69 kills/set (83) from Samantha VanHeel while Betsy Schitlz has supplied 5.81 assists (302).

Inside Look at St. Benedict
St. Benedict, directed by 15th-year head coach Nicole Hess, has recorded a total of 1011 kills on the season, averaging 12.5 kills per set for fifth in the MIAC. CSB is also ranked fifth in the MIAC in assists at 11.35 per set while sitting third for 1.75 blocks per set with 142 total blocks. CSB ranks fifth in the league in hitting at .175.

Senior setter Audrey Spolidoro, leads the team in assists with 788, 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 now has 267 digs for 3.30 digs/set with 46 blocks (0.57 blocks/set) and 0.32 service aces (26 total)  In addition, Spolidoro has accumulated 55 kills on 179 attacks with just four errors for a .285 hitting mark. Spolidoro has played 359 sets across 95 matches in her career, accumulating 213 kills (0.59/set) on 782 attacks for a .201 hitting mark. On the 3,253 assists, she ranks sixth all-time at CSB as she has averaged 9.06 assists per set and registered 87 services aces along with 1,019 digs for 2.84/set. She also has totaled 359 points with her 105.5 points this year just 4.0 away from her career best 109.5 in 2022. Her 9.73 assists/set this year is just off her career best of 10.15 in 2022.

This year, Spolidoro has had 16 double doubles (assists/digs) and now has 52 in her career. She has recorded 10 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 246 kills on the season (8th in MIAC) with 256 digs, and 38 serve aces. Her 38 aces are 16 more than a year ago and she already has surpassed her digs total of 215 from last year. She also has scored 296 points, which is 20.5 above last year. She has 20 double doubles in her career with 13 this season.  

McKenna Moehrle, a sophomore middle blocker, is hitting .245 with 218kills on 530 attacks, or 2.690 kills/set. She also has 57 blocks or 0.74 per set. Thirteen times, she has reached double digits and has 15 kills in a game five times. She recorded a career-high 18 kills with the career-best .517 hitting mark in the win over Carleton. In that game, she was a perfect 7-of-7 on kills in the first set.

Mackenzie Knofczynski is averaging 0.92 blocks per set for first in the MIAC and her 73 total blocks is second in the MIAC.  She has totaled 182 kills or 2.25/set with 485 attacks and a .208 hitting mark. She has 226 career blocks, including a career-best 90 a year ago. In addition, she has 591 kills on 1,588 career attacks with 13service aces.

Hess leads CSB Volleyball
In 14 seasons, head coach Nicole Hess, who is coaching her 15th 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 266-140 overall at CSB and 107-44 in MIAC play. In her 21 seasons overall as a head coach, Hess is 330-272 overall and 122-106 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.