SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Despite 23 kills from both Emma Flanders and Kali Jones, the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team (0-2) dropped a pair of games as the 2024 season opened at the Trinity Fall Classic on Friday.

In the season-opening match up, St. Ben's fell to East Texas Baptist (1-0) by scores of 20-25, 22-25 and 12-25. In the second game of the day, CSB dropped a 25-18, 15-25, 25-23, 17-25 and 10-15 decision to Texas Lutheran.

Saint Benedict will play two games at the Trinity Fall Classic on Saturday, including a match up with Cortland at 1:15 p.m., and a 6 p.m., contest with host Trinity at 6 p.m.

Stat Breakdown –
Through two games, CSB is averaging 11.4 kills per set with opponents totaling 12.1. The Bennies have been outhit, .278-to-138, while CSB has a 269-to-252 margin in attacks. CSB has totaled 11 assists per set and 2.3 service aces (2.3) with 13.8 digs per set (110 total) and 1.3 blocks per set (10 total).

Jones and Flanders led the hitting attack with 2.88 kills per set in the two games. Both players recorded team-highs in attacks with 70. Jones had her 14th career double-double with 14 kills and 19 digs against Texas Lutheran. Audrey Spolidoro averaged 9.38 assists per set with 75 in two contests. In the setback to Texas Lutheran, she had her 37^th career double-double with 44 assists and 13 digs. In addition, Spolidoro now has 2,540 career set assists, which ranks eighth all-time at CSB.

Match Summary
East Texas Baptist 3 CSB 0
In the 3-0 (20-25, 22-25, 12-25) setback to East Texas Baptist, the Bennies hit .139 with 37 kills on 100 attacks (24 errors). CSB had 15 kills in each of the first two sets and finished the game with 45. East Texas Baptist had 38 kills on 85 attacks for a .365 hitting mark as they committed just seven errors.

CSB had a 37-35 edge in assists with 31 by Spolidoro and totaled 33 digs, including 10 by Ingrid Noha. The Bennies had nine kills from both Jones and Flanders while McKenna Moehrle provided seven.

Texas Lutheran 3 CSB 2
In the 3-2 loss (25-18, 15-25, 25-23, 17-25 and 10-15) to Texas Lutheran, CSB built a 2-1 edge in sets before TLU rallied by winning the fourth and fifth sets.

The Bennies won the first set, 25-18, by hitting .180 with 16 kills on 50 attacks and seven errors. Texas Lutheran rebounded to capture the second set by hitting .355 on 14 kills in 31 attacks. Again, in the third set, CSB found success with 15 kills on 42 attacks (.167) while Texas Lutheran had 11 kills on 39 attacks (.154). CSB had a 15-11 lead in the fourth set after a Flanders' kill but TLU rebounded for a 25-17 win by registering a .286 hitting mark with 18 kills on 42 attacks. In the set, CSB hit just .115 with six kills in 26 attacks. TLU closed out the game by taking the final set, 15-10, with a closing run of 10-5. The Bennies had an 8-7 edge in kills in the final set, but TLU hit .353 with just one errors in 17 attacks.

Overall, CSB was outhit, .234-to-.142 as TLU had a 59-to-54 mark in kills. However, St. Bens had a 77-73 margin in digs and totaled 51 assists to 55 for TLU. In the game, the Bennies had eight blocks and 12 aces, including four by Chaeli Haupert. In the game Jones and Flanders both had 14 kills while Mackenzie Knofczynski had 12 kills and five blocks and now has 159 blocks in her career. Antonia Chowhan had four blocks and McKenna Moehrle added three. Spolidoro had the double double of 44 assists and 13 digs with Jones also recording a double double with 19 digs and 14 kills.