ST. JOSEPH, Minn. - Spending another weekend on the road, the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team travels to Transylvania University to take part in the Transy Invite Friday-Saturday, Sept. 11-12. CSB (3-2) will play a strong schedule in Lexington, Ky., as the Bennies are set to face two teams that joined them in the 2025 NCAA Tournament field.  

 

Saint Benedict opens the weekend by facing Asbury University, which made the NCAA regional for the first time in school history a season ago, at 12 p.m. ET Friday, Sept. 11. The Bennies follow with a battle against the Bluejays of Elmhurst University at 5 p.m. ET. CSB opens Saturday's double-header with a 3 p.m. ET bout against No. 5 Berry College, a team that finished in the Final Four in 2025. Saint Ben's will close out the trip by taking on the host, Transy (2-2), at 5:30 p.m. ET.  

 

The Bennies most recently bested Central College in five sets Saturday afternoon, Sept. 5. Senior Kali Jones (Annandale, Minn./Annandale) powered the offense with 14 kills and four aces while adding a double-double performance with 11 digs. Junior Izzy Torve (Loretto, Minn./Orono) and sophomore Ginny Schuler (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) orchestrated the offense with 25 and 17 assists, respectively. Sophomore Brooke Siegle (Norwood Young America, Minn./Waconia) led the defense with 14 digs. The 3-1 weekend at the Central/Grinnell Tournament landed Jones, fellow senior Brooke Andries (Marshall, Minn./Marshall) and sophomore Karley Dunham (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) all-tournament team honors. 

 

Through the first five games of the season, Jones has led the offense with 72 kills, an average of 3.27 per set, doing so on a .218 attack percentage. Jones enters the weekend nearing the 1000 career kills mark, as she comes in with 907 to her name. Dunham is second on the squad with 34 kills, closely followed by Andries with 32.  

 

Torve and Schuler have been the main masterminds behind the CSB offense through the young season, as the pair leads an offense that is hitting .218 entering the weekend. Torve tops the team with 105 assists, an average of 4.77 per set, while Schuler is second with 89, averaging 4.05 helpers per set. Jones and senior Libby Burns (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) are tied for the team lead in aces with nine apiece, an average of 0.41 per set. Torve is third on the team with six.  

 

Defensively, the Bennies have been led by Jones with 73 digs, an average of 3.32 per set. She recorded her 1000th career dig in the five-set win over Cornell College Saturday, Sept. 5, becoming the 24th player in program history to do so. First-year Kaelyn Wittwer (Delano, Minn./Delano) is second with 48 digs, averaging 2.53 per set. Torve rounds out the top three with 45, good for an average of 2.05 per set. Dunham leads the net defense with 15 blocks, as the sophomore is averaging 0.68 per set. First-year Karlie Wollum (Canby, Minn./Canby) follows with eight rejections, while Jones is third with six stuffs. 

 

CSB will face Asbury for the first time in program history. The Eagles bring in a record of 1-1, most recently downing Berea College in straight sets Wednesday, Sept. 9.  

 

Friday night's clash with Elmhurst (1-3) will be the second meeting between the two programs. The Bennies swept the Bluejays in the inaugural match Sept. 20, 2014. The match featured a battle of nationally ranked teams, as CSB was seeded 14th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, while EU was one spot ahead at No. 13. Laura Schmitt led the Saint Ben's offense with 12 kills on a .229 clip. Taya Kockelman orchestrated the attack with 30 kills while adding a team-best three aces. Victoria Nass topped the team with 13 digs to guide the defense. Elmhurst comes in off a three-set loss at Edgewood University Tuesday night, Sept. 8. 

 

The Bennies will battle Berry (2-1) for the first time Saturday afternoon. The Vikings, who finished their 2025 season in the NCAA tournament semifinals, enter off a sweep at University of Scranton Sunday, Sept. 6.  

 

Saint Benedict will close out the weekend by taking on Transylvania for the first time. The Pioneers most recently defeated Sewanee The University of the South in four sets Saturday, Sept. 5.  

 

All four matches will be live streamed, which can be found here, while live stats can be tracked by clicking here.