ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team (11-11, 7-3 MIAC), which has won eight of its past 10 games, returns home after a three game roadtrip to face St. Olaf (19-8, 6-4 MIAC) on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 5 p.m., at Claire Lynch Hall. Tonight, CSB will honor senior Audrey Spolidoro following the game.

CSB, directed by 15-year head coach Nicole Hess (332 career wins, including 268 at CSB), has 11 wins in its 22 matches, including home wins against No. 18 Northwestern (13-7) and Hamline. St. Benedict dropped a 3-1 decision to Gustavus (19-9, 7-0 MIAC) at home on Oct. 26. However, CSB responded with three straight road win in MIAC play over Carleton, 3-1, on Oct. 30 and also had 3-0 wins over Concordia (Minn.) on Nov. 2 and Saint Mary's on Nov. 6 to earn the 7-3 MIAC mark which places the Bennies in a tie for fourth . With a win tonight, CSB will host a first round game in the MIAC playoffs on Tuesday at Claire Lynch Hall if Augsburg (16-12, 7-3 MIAC) is defeated by Bethel (18-8, 8-2 MIAC) on Friday night.

Notes on St. Olaf
St. Olaf, which has opened 19-8 with a 6-4 conference record, is led by 1st-year head coach Alicia Wood. The Oles, have a 13.5-11.7 kills/set edge over opponents while generating 12.6 assists. The Oles are led by Lilah Van Scoyoc with 3.18 kills/set with 315 total, followed by Mesha Krause with 2.26 kills/set on 224 kills. Morgan Ryan leads the MIAC with 5.87 digs per set with a total of 580.

Series Notes
Against St. Olaf, CSB owns an 31-24 mark as the teams play for the 56th time. CSB dropped a 3-1 home decision at St. Olaf on Nov. 9, 2023 in the MIAC Semifinal. In the series, the Bennies sit 18-5 at home with a 19-11 mark in conference play.

Inside Look at CSB
St. Benedict has recorded a total of 1,101 kills on the season, averaging 12.7 kills per set.

The Bennies are led by sophomore, Kali Jones, who has recorded 266 kills on the season (8th in MIAC) with 278 digs, and 39 serve aces (2nd in MIAC). Jones is averaging 3.06 kills per set and has totaled 828 attacks. For her career, she had 505 kills or 2.79/kills per cent with 493 digs and should reached the 500 kills and 500 digs club on Saturday.

Senior setter Audrey Spolidoro, leads the team in assists with 861 (40^th in DIII, 2^nd in MIAC), leaving her second in the MIAC, while also recording 52 career double doubles. With her 9.90 assists per game, she ranks second in the MIAC and 25 in NCAA DIII. She has 3,326 career assists and 1,033 digs and she is just the third CSB student-athlete to reach 3K in assists and 1K in digs. Spolidoro has been named MIAC Player of the Week three times, including this past Monday after averaging 12.0 assists and 2.71 digs per set in a pair of road wins. She is just the second CSB setter to earn three or more MIAC awards in a single season and one of two with five or more for her career. Former CSB standout Megan Pekarek was honored three times by the MIAC in 2015 and 2017 and has a school mark of eight MIAC Specialists of the Week honors.

McKenna Moehrle, sophomore middle blocker, is hitting .246 with 237 kills on 577 attacks, or 2.72 kills/set. She has 14 double-digit kills games this season.

Mackenzie Knofczynski is third in the league with 78 blocks and 0.90 per game. Nine times this season, she has reached double digit kills. In her career, she has 609 kills, 1,628 attacks, 231 total blocks and 15 service aces.