ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After seven straight victories, the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team is ready to begin its bid for a run in the NCAA DIIII Tournament which opens on Thursday, Nov. 21, in Whitewater, Wisc.

St. Ben's, which is seeded seventh, will face No. 11 Washington University-St. Louis, the No. 2 seed, in the opening round of the tourney at 2 p.m., at the Kris Russell Arena at Whitewater, Wisc. Live Stats and live video are available. A NCAA DIII Regional webpage is also available with information on tickets, game start times, full schedule, stats, and watch links and more. The Kris Russell Arena is located at 907 W. Schwager Drive in Whitewater, Wis. The facility seats 1,500 and was opened in 1968.

The Bennies, which sit 15-11, earned the MIAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Tourney while the Bears earned an at-large berth. The tournament, hosted by No. 7 Wisconsin-Whitewater (26-3) includes five teams ranked in the top 25.

CSB, which is in the NCAA Tournament for the 24th time in school history, won the MIAC Tournament Championship by winning three straight games. The Bennies, winners of 12 of its last 14 games, opened with a 3-2 win over No. 5 seeded Augsburg before upsetting both the No. 1 seed Gustavus (20-10) and No. 2 seed St. Catherine (20-9) in 3-0 sweeps on the roa
On the Tourney – Seeds
No. 3 Wisconsin-Platteville (No. 17, 25-6) vs. No. 6 Edgewood (24-9), 11:30 a.m.
No. 2 Washington U (No. 11, 28-6) vs. No. 7 Saint Benedict (15-11), 2 p.m.
No. 4 Wisconsin-Eau Claire (No. 24, 20-8) vs No. 5 Northwestern-St. Paul (No. 23, 24-8), 4:30 p.m.
No. 1 Wisconsin-Whitewater (No. 7, 26-3) vs. No. 8 Ohio Wesleyan (16-12), 7 p.m.

The winner of the first-round game between the Bennies and the Bears will face the No. 17 Wisconsin-Platteville/Edgewood (24-9) winner at 4:30 p.m., on Friday, Nov. 22. The UW-Whitewater/Ohio Wesleyan and UW-Eau Claire/Northwestern-St. Paul winner played at 7 p.m., on Nov. 23. The winners of the semifinals play in the regional title tilt at 5 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23.

Inside Look at St. Ben's route to NCAAs
St. Ben's earned its way into the national tournament on the strength of seven straight wins to end the regular season and into the MIAC Tournament. CSB, which is 15-11 overall, has won 12-of-14 games and earned the No. 4 seed in the MIAC Tourney. In the opening round, CSB took a 3-2 decision over No. 5 Augsburg at Claire Lynch Hall. In the semifinals, the Bennies defeated (RV) and top-seed Gustavus Adolphus, 3-0, including a 32-30 marathon win the in the opening set. In the championship game, CSB cruised to another sweep as they defeated St. Catherine, 3-0. It was CSB's second sweep of St. Catherine this season. In fact, the Bennies, which earned an NCAA berth for the first time since 2019, won the last seven sets it played in the MIAC tournament and its first MIAC tourney title since 2017. When the Bennies defeated Gustavus, they defeated a team that had not lost in tournament since 2021 and had finished the regular season with an 11-0 record. And, in defeating St. Catherine, they upset a team that had won 10 of 11 games (lost to Gustavus, 3-0, Nov. 9) since falling to St. Ben's, 3-0, on Sept. 28 at Claire Lynch Hall.

In the NCAA Tourney, CSB has a 23-23 record. The Bennies, which reached the Elite Eight in 2019 and 2008, made a Final 4 appearance in 1990 and Sweet 16 appearances in 2018, 2012, 1997, 1994, 1993, 1991, 1989 and 1988. The Bennies have reached the NCAA 24 times including 2024, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2005, 1998, 1997, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987 and 1986. CSB has a 2-3 record against teams in the national tourney in 2024.

In the MIAC this year, CSB finished fourth with an 8-3 record. Senior setter Audrey Spolidoro was named All-MIAC for a third straight year while sophomore middle blocker McKenna Moehrle earned first team honors. Both sophomore outside hitter Kali Jones and junior middle blocker Mackenzie Knofczynski earned honorable mention All-MIAC honors.

Series Notes
In the all-time series, the Bennies sit 1-8 against Washington U but recorded a 3-2 win a year ago in Whitewater, Wisc., on Sept. 15, 2023. In that game, Audrey Spolidoro set a career-high with 62 assists as the Bennies had a 3-2 win by scores of 25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 20-25, 15-13. In that matchup, Mackenzie Knofczynski had 15 kills while Kali Jones had 14 and Brooke Andries, 13.  CSB recorded 71 kills on 190 attacks and hit .289. The Bears defeated CSB in St. Louis, Mo., on Sept. 3, 2022, by a 3-0 score. The first contest between the schools was Sept. 17, 1993, when the Bears took a 3-0 win at St. Joseph, Minn.

Inside look at Washington U –
After finishing runner-up at the 2024 UAA Tournament, the No. 11 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team was selected for an at-large bid into the 2024 NCAA Tournament, beginning this weekend.
Washington will be led by six players who were named UAA All-Association all-conference. Junior Sam Buckley was named the UAA Player of the Year along with First Team honors. Joining her on the top squad is graduate Lily Steinbach. Seniors Zoe Foster and Jasmine Sells along with sophomore Leah Oyewole were named Second Team All-Association.  

The Bears are 28-6 on the season following the UAA Tournament with a 12-6 record against teams in the national tournament. Sells leads the team with 338 kills with Oyewole in second with 311, Foster is third with 283 and Steinbach is fourth with 231. Gilroy and Sells are the top two in digs with 522 and 440, respectively. Buckley is currently sixth all-time at Washington in assists with 3,797, including her 1,406 this season. Foster leads on the defensive side of the net with 112 total blocks while Steinbach is second with 108.

Bennies Notes – By the Numbers
St. Benedict has recorded a total of 1,304 kills on the season, averaging 12.66 kills per set for fifth in the MIAC. The Bennies, which averaged 16.95 digs per set, rank fifth in assists at 11.39 and hitting percentage at .181 but sit third with 1.70 blocks per set on 175 overall as a team. CSB is also third in the MIAC with 1.94 service aces with 200 on the season. Twelve times this season, CSB has recorded 50 or more kills while hitting .200 or better 13 times, including in six of its last seven games. The Bennies have had 64 kills in a game twice this season. Eighteen times CSB has 60 or more digs and had a high of 114 vs Simpson on Sept. 20, 2024. In addition, eight times the Bennies have double-digit service aces with a high of 15 against Coe on Sept. 21. Nineteen times, CSB has had six or more blocks with three games of 10 or more including high of 12 against Simpson.

On Wednesday, Nov. 14, CSB had four players named to the All-MIAC team. They included senior setter Audrey Spolidoro (first team), sophomore middle blocker McKenna Moehrle (first team), sophomore outside hitter Kali Jones (honorable mention) and junior middle blocker Mackenzie Knofczynski (honorable mention).

Today, Spolidoro became the first from CSB volleyball named AVCA All-Region IX since the 2019 season when Hunter and Madison Weiss were honored.

Spolidoro, a senior from Cottage Grove, Minn., was earlier named All-MIAC First Team for the third straight year. She is first Bennie named to three straight All-MIAC teams since Hunter Weiss and Madison Weiss in 2017-19. This was Moehrle's first All-MIAC honor. Both Knofczynski and Jones earned All-MIAC honorable mention. It is the second straight All-MIAC recognition for Knofczynski who All-MIAC was as first team selection a year ago. Jones earned her first All-MIAC honor.

For the third straight year, CSB has had two student-athletes named first-team all-conference and the total of four honorees is a first since 1998. This is the 11^th time since 2000 that St. Ben's has had three or more student-athletes earned recognition from the MIAC. CSB has had at least one student-athlete honored by the conference every year since the mid-1980s.

Seven of the 22 All-MIAC selections also received the honor in 2023. Spolidoro is one of three players who have received All-MIAC distinction for the third time, a feat achieved by 63 volleyball players in recorded conference history.

In addition, CSB had a league-best three players named to the MIAC All-Playoff Team include senior Audrey Spolidoro, junior Chaeli Haupert, and sophomore Brooke Andries. In three games across 11 sets at the MIAC Tourney, Spolidoro had a tournament-best 105 assists or 9.55 per set. She added 41 digs of 3.73/set along with four service aces and 11 kills with a .458 hitting mark. Haupert, a junior libero from Dallas, Texas, led the Bennies with 44 digs or 4.0 per set. She also six assists and added a kill during MIAC Tourney play. Andries, a sophomore finance major from Marshall, Minn., had 21 kills for 1.91 per set and hit .164 on 73 attacks. She also had nine digs and, seven blocks or 0.64 per set and 24.5 points or 2.23 per set in the MIAC Tourney. 

Player Notes

Spolidoro, a physics major, earned her third straight All-MIAC honor earlier this month. And today, she picked up first-team AVCA All-Region honors for her outstanding play for the Bennies. A year ago, she was named AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region. Five times in her career, including three times this year, Spolidoro has been named MIAC Specialty Player of the Week. The senior ranks second in the MIAC and 25^th in NCAA DIII with 9.85 assists per set with her 1,015 assists ranking second in the MIAC and 33^rd in DIII. With 1,015 set assists this season, she matched her career best in 2022.

In 26 games and 103 sets, Spolidoro has added 74 kills, 33 service aces and 342 digs or 3.32 per set. She also has 50 total blocks. Nineteen times this year and 55 times in her career, she has achieved double doubles. She has 3,480 career assists (6^th, all-time at CSB) and 1,094 digs and she is just the third CSB student-athlete to reach 3K in assists and 1K in digs. She is currently sixth all-time in set assists at CSB with her 3,480 just 54 from passing Rachel Reuter with 3,533 in 1996-99. Spolidoro also has 94 career service aces and 123 total blocks.

Moehrle, a sophomore exercise health science major from Eden Valley, Minn., has 17 double-digit kills games, including in 10 of the past 13 games. The standout middle blocker has made a major contribution in her first season with the program. She is averaging 2.81 kills per set (11^th, MIAC) with 289 kills on 693 attacks and a .255 hitting mark, which ranks seventh in the MIAC. She is also contributing 0.66 blocks per set on 68 total blocks (15^th, MIAC). Moehrle set her career-best with 22 kills against St. Olaf on Nov. 9.

Jones, a sophomore elementary education major from Annandale, Minn., has been one of the top outside hitters for CSB and in the MIAC. She has recorded a team-high 315 kills on the season (8th in MIAC) and 3.06 kills per set (8^th in MIAC) with 329 digs (3.18 per set) and a team-high 42 serve aces for 0.41 per set (5th in MIAC). Jones has totaled 24 career double doubles including 16 this year. She has a career-best 20 kills against Cortland on August 31 with a high of 15 in MIAC play, which came in the MIAC quarterfinal playoff win over Augsburg on Nov. 12.  For her career, she has 554 kills or 2.81/kills per set with 543 digs or 2.76/set. Jones has 57 total blocks, including 31 in 2024. Earlier this year, she recorded a team-season-high of eight service aces against Gustavus Adolphus, a mark that is the best at CSB since 1997.

A junior nursing major from Willmar, Minn., Knofczynski was All-MIAC a year ago and also named Academic All-MIAC as well as to the CSV Academic All-District Team. With the honorable mention All-MIAC honor, the outstanding middle blocker continues to build on her resume of awards at CSB. This season, she ranks third in the MIAC in blocks at 0.90 per set and her 93 overall is second in the league. Knofczynski has 234 kills or 2.27 per set with 628 total attacks. She also has 30 assists and 21 service aces. Ten times this season, she has reached double digit kills. In her career, she has 643 kills, 1,731 attacks, 246 total blocks and 21 service aces. This season she had recorded five or more total blocks seven times with a career-best nine in the MIAC quarterfinals win over Augsburg. She has a season-high 14 kills against Augsburg on Sept. 27, 2024. Knofczynski had a career high 15 kills against Washington U on Sept. 15, 2023.

Against Coe earlier this year, sophomore Brooke Andries, who was named the St. Cloud Orthopedics/CSB Athlete of the Year had a season high of 14 kills on Sept. 21. Seven times this season she has reached double digits in kills. Andries totaled 149 kills or 2.07 kills per set across 72 sets and 19 matches this year. Andries also has 40 digs and 27 total blocks for 163.5 points in the 2024 season. In her career, she has 338 kills or 2.0 per set with 1,004 attacks and a .201 hitting percentage in 169 sets across 46 matches. She also has totaled 105 digs and 72 total blocks or 0.43 per set and recorded 377.5 points.

This season in 103 sets and 26 games, Chaeli Haupert has a team-best 405 digs or 3.93/set to go with 29 service aces or 0.28/set, three kills and 42 assists. A nursing major from Dallas, Texas, Haupert set her career high in digs with 29 against national-ranked Trinity on August 31. Twenty-three times, she has had double-digit digs, and four times totaled 20 or more. As for her career, the junior has played 80 games and 299 sets with 867 digs or 2.90 per set and total 97 service aces or 0.32 a set and added 65 assists and six kills.