ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – With third place in the MIAC standings on the line, the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team delivered one of its sharpest performances of the season Wednesday night, sweeping Bethel, 3-0, at Claire Lynch Hall.

The Bennies controlled the match from start to finish, winning 25-18, 25-19, 25-19, to improve to 17-6 overall and 8-2 in MIAC play. The victory guarantees Saint Benedict a third-place finish in the conference and a home match when the MIAC Playoffs begin Tuesday, Nov. 11. CSB closes out the regular season on Saturday (Nov. 8) at Carleton.

Saint Benedict's balanced offense was on full display, led by Keira McManus with 11 kills, while Brooke Andries and Mackenzie Knofczynski each added nine. The Bennies hit an efficient .274 as a team, finishing with 44 kills on 117 attacks.

Knofczynski led the team in hitting percentage, recording nine kills on 16 swings with only two errors for a .438 mark, while Andries was outstanding — nine kills on 23 attacks with no errors (.391). McManus contributed at a .231 clip.

At the net, Knofczynski also posted three blocks as the Bennies tallied five total team blocks. Setter Izzy Torve notched her fifth career double-double with 21 assists and 14 digs, also serving up two aces.

Defensively, Chaeli Haupert anchored the back row with 17 digs and two aces, pushing her career total to 1,239 digs—just 15 shy of 10th all-time in CSB history (Andrea Millerbernd, 1,253, 2006–09). The Bennies collectively recorded 61 digs, 41 assists, and nine service aces.

Game Summary
The two teams were evenly matched through the mid-way point of set one. Then a Kali Jones kill and three straight Bennie points gave CSB its largest lead of the night at 20-15. St. Ben's played solid side-out volleyball for the remainder of the set and claimed an important 25-18 set one win and the momentum. CSB hit an impressive .342 in the frame, finishing with 16 kills and just three errors. In the second set, Bethel jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead, before the Bennies could rally back and tie things up at six points apiece. Bethel went on another run to extend their lead to 14-9 before Saint Benedict responded with a 10-1 run to go up 19-15. The two teams traded points until CSB rattled off five consecutive points to take set two 25-19 and a 2-0 lead in the match. Set three was a battle of small runs that found the teams notched at 18 points apiece. The Bennies closed out the set and the match with a 7-1 run to seal the big 3-0 rivalry win over the Bethel Royals.