College of Saint Benedict Athletics

LEXINGTON, Ky. – There was no better time for the first sweep of the season for College of Saint Benedict volleyball than Saturday afternoon, Sept. 12. In fact, the Bennies (6-3) needed just six sets to secure two wins, as they opened the day by upsetting No. 5 Berry College behind set scores of 25-23, 25-18, 25-23, before beating Transylvania University (25-21, 28-26, 25-11) to close out the weekend. 

 

CSB opened the day with a top-five sweep, as the Bennies bested Berry (4-2) in straight sets (25-23, 25-18, 25-23). Saint Ben's posted 35 kills on an efficient .268 attack percentage, while limiting the Vikings to a .182 clip despite recording three more kills. The Bennies also notched the edge in aces (10-5) and blocks (8-5), while BC snuck out the advantage in assists (36-35) and digs (47-45).  

 

Seniors Kali Jones (Annandale, Minn./Annandale) led the offense with nine kills, followed by seven from Kate Stadum (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd). Senior Brooke Andries (Marshall, Minn./Marshall) and sophomore Karley Dunham (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) each added six kills while hitting .500 and .417, respectively. Stadum led the Bennies from the service line with four aces, while Dunham added a pair. Sophomore Ginny Schuler (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) and junior Izzy Torve (Loretto, Minn./Orono) pieced together the offense. Schuler topped the team with 16 assists, while Torve closely followed with 15.  

 

Defensively, Jones led the team with 12 digs, followed by nine from sophomore Brooke Siegle (Norwood Young America, Minn./Waconia). Schuler added eight digs to round out the top three. Dunham and sophomore Sydney Elliott (Saint Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) led the net defense with four blocks apiece, followed by three stuffs from Andries.  

 

Down early in the opening set, three straight points from CSB shifted momentum back towards the Bennies. Stadum followed an attack error with an ace, and Andries and Dunham paired up for a big block to put Saint Ben's ahead, 10-9.  

 

Berry looked to be pulling ahead, as they took a 20-16 lead on a kill, forcing head coach Nicole Hess to call timeout. The break worked in favor of the Bennies, who rattled off seven straight points to charge ahead. After a bad set started the run, Elliott and Andries perfectly read an attack, sending the ball crashing back down on Berry's side of the court. Jones perfectly set Andries on a kill, resulting in a Vikings timeout with the gap trimmed to one, 20-19. The stoppage did not slow down the Bennies, as an attack error erased the deficit. Elliott tipped one over the block for a kill, followed by a Dunham ace, as the sophomore used the tape to her advantage. Dunham set up Jones for a kill to finish off the run as CSB took a 23-20 lead before the Vikings could force a sideout.  

 

Andries set up set point, perfectly pushing a set from Schuler to the back corner for a kill. Berry staved off set point twice, but an Elliott kill finalized the opening set in favor of Saint Benedict, 25-23.  

 

Staring down an early 6-4 deficit, Saint Ben's utilized a 5-1 run to its advantage, beginning with a Vikings service error. Jones aced BC on the ensuing point, and Stadum followed another Berry miscue with a kill, making it 8-6. Following a quick sideout, Stadum stayed hot, as she added another kill to her stat line to bring the lead back to two, 9-7. 

 

Staying in front the rest of the set, CSB closed out the set two win by taking six of the last seven points. After an attack error, Andries downed a dish from Schuler to make it 21-17. The Bennies committed an attack error on the following point, but it would be their last mistake of the set. Dunham took over to close it out, as she roped down back-to-back kills before bringing up set point with an ace. A BC miscue locked in set two for the Bennies, 25-18. 

 

Saint Ben's looked doomed in the third set, as it trailed for the majority of it. Down 19-14, a Stadum tool kill sparked a run for Saint Benedict. First-year Karlie Wollum (Canby, Minn./Canby) and Dunham teamed up for a big rejection, and senior Libby Burns (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) dropped in an ace. Stadum smashed one down the line to bring the set score within one, 19-18, forcing Berry to burn a timeout. An attack error followed, neutralizing the set at 19. 

 

The Vikings regrouped after, stealing the next three points to go up 22-19, making Saint Ben's call timeout in the process. Torve found Wollum for a kill to secure the sideout, and the Bennies net defense came up big once again, as Dunham and Andries blocked one back into the Vikings to bring the set back within one, 22-21. Berry took a late 23-22 lead via a service error, but Sain Benedict was perfect the rest of the way. Dunham punched a set from Schuler through the block, and Jones followed by ending a long rally with a kill to cue match point. Stadum secured the upset victory with an ace, snagging set three 25-23.  

 

The Bennies stayed hot in their second match of the day, as they made quick work of Transy (2-4), winning with set scores of 25-21, 28-26, 25-11. CSB dominated both sides of the ball, recording 43 kills on a .280 clip while limiting the Pioneers to 33 kills on a .104 showing. Saint Benedict secured the advantage in assists (39-31), aces (9-6), and dominated in blocks (14-2), while narrowly losing the edge in digs, 57-53. 

 

Jones and Stadum continued to lead the offense, posting 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Stadum's 12 came without committing an error on 21 swings, as she finished the night hitting a whopping .571. Dunham rounded out the top three with eight kills on a monstrous .538 attack percentage. Schuler and Torve orchestrated the potent attack with 23 and 14 assists, respectively. Adding four more aces to her season total, Stadum continued to lead the Bennies from the service line, while Dunham chipped in two.  

 

Saint Benedict's net defense was the difference in the contest, powered by a career-high eight rejections from Dunham. Elliott also smashed her career-best, as she tallied six blocks, while Jones added a career-high of five stuffs. Jones added another double-double to her collection, finishing with a team-best 14 digs. Torve narrowly missed out on one of her own, as she finished second on the squad with nine. Siegle chipped in seven to finish third. 

 

Down 16-15 in the opening frame, a kill by Stadum was followed by a big block from Wollum and Dunham, putting the Bennies back in front, 17-16. Stadum added another kill, doing so on a ball sent over early, to give CSB a two-point cushion. After the Pioneers notched a sideout, Stadum stayed hot, as she downed a dish from Torve to spark a four-point run for the visitors. Schuler aced the home team, while Andries tacked on a kill and a Stadum-Dunham rejection made it 22-17. Saint Ben's stayed in front the rest of the way, as Andries closed out the opening set in favor of the visitors, 25-21.  

 

Down by as many as seven points, Saint Benedict mounted a major comeback in set two, beginning with two straight Dunham kills. Back-to-back TU miscues trimmed the deficit to one, 17-16, before the Pioneers could get a sideout. Jones roped down a set from Siegle, and Dunham aced the home team to even the score at 18.  

 

Back-and-forth action saw the Bennies with their backs on the wall, 26-25. A service error erased set point, and Schyler connected with Jones for a kill to give CSB its own set point. Andries and Elliott sent a Pioneers attack back downwards, locking in the long second set, 28-26. 

 

All of the momentum quickly shifted to Saint Benedict, which opened the third set on a 7-0 run. The streak featured a kill and two aces from Stadum and four Bennies blocks, all of which involved Dunham.  

 

CSB never looked back, as first-year Stella Lambaere (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) aced the Pioneers on match point, locking in the third set 25-11 with the first ace in her career.  

 

CSB returns to the friendly confines of Claire Lynch Hall to host University of Wisconsin-Stout Wednesday night, Sept. 16. First serve is set for 7 p.m.