College of Saint Benedict Athletics

PELLA, Iowa – A thrilling day in Pella, Iowa, saw the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team pull out two five-set victories Saturday, Sept. 5. The Bennies (3-2) opened the day with a win over Cornell College, winning with set scores 25-21, 24-26, 16-25, 25-21, 15-11, before completing the weekend with a victory over Central College (25-16, 25-19, 12-25, 21-25, 15-13). The day also featured a milestone, as senior Kali Jones (Annandale, Minn./Annandale) recorded her 1000th career dig in the contest against Cornell. Jones is the 24th player in program history to surpass the mark. 

 

A closely battled contest with the Rams (1-1) saw CSB record 59 kills on a .304 attack percentage, while Cornell notched 63 on a .315 clip. Saint Ben's gutted out the advantage in digs (55-47) but Cornell logged the edge in assists (60-53) and aces (13-9). Each team totaled six blocks. 

 

Jones and sophomore Sydney Elliott (Saint Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) led the offense with 18 and 10 kills, respectively, while both hit north of .350. First-year Karlie Wollum (Canby, Minn./Canby) was third on the team in kills after tallying a career-best nine.  

 

Junior Izzy Torve (Loretto, Minn./Orono) and sophomore Ginny Schuler (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) were the main masterminds behind the offense that hit above .300 for the first time in the young season. Torve totaled 27 assists while Schuler followed with 17. Jones and Schuler each added a pair of aces.  

 

Sophomore Brooke Siegle (Norwood Young America, Waconia) led the defense with 12 digs, while Jones closely followed with 11 to register her third consecutive double-double performance. First-Year Kaelyn Wittwer (Delano, Minn./Delano) chipped in eight. Jones and sophomore Karley Dunham (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) led the net defense with two blocks apiece.  

 

Saint Benedict took control early in the opening set as a kill and ace from Jones was followed by a solo stuff from senior Brooke Andries (Marshall, Minn./Marshall) to put the Bennies up 9-4.  

 

CSB stayed in well in front until three straight points by the Rams cut the gap to three, 23-20. A service error rewarded the Bennies with a sideout to cue set point, and Torve set Wollum for a kill to finalize the score at 25-21.  

 

After dropping set two and three with scores of 26-24 and 25-13, respectively, Saint Ben's responded in the fourth. Down 6-2 early, an attack error by Cornell sparked an eight-point run for the team in red. Jones solo stuffed the ensuing attack, and Schuler followed a bad set with an ace. After another Rams miscue, Siegle dished one to Jones for a kill and Schuler polished off the run with another ace to put the Bennies in front, 10-6.  

 

Cornell came back to tie the score at 16, but kills from Elliott, Jones and Wollum moved the lead to three, 19-16. Once again, the Rams responded with a three-point run of their own to knot the score at 19. This time, a 5-1 run pushed CSB out in front with time running out in the set. Torve found Wollum to start the spurt, followed by a Dunham solo stuff and an ace from senior Libby Burns (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer). After a service error, Wollum downed a dish from Torve and an attack error cued set point, 24-20, The Rams kept the set alive with a kill, but Schuler found Dunham for a kill to secure the fourth set, 25-21.  

 

The fifth set featured back-and-forth action from start to finish. Trailing 5-4, two straight Jones kills reversed the lead, and an attack error gave the Bennies a two-point cushion, 7-5. Saint Ben's never trailed after that, as a kill by Wollum pushed match point and an attack error locked in the win for CSB, 15-11. 

 

Saint Ben's closed out the weekend with a dual against the Dutch (1-2) in a more defensive match than earlier in the day. The Bennies found a way to pull out the five-set win despite only holding the statistical advantage in attack percentage (.262-.226). Central logged the lead in kills (60-54), aces (12-10), blocks (6-2), assists (56-50) and digs (73-67).  

 

Jones notched the team-lead in kills with 14, while Elliott posted 10 kills on a whopping .474 clip. Senior Kate Stadum (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd) rounded out the top-three with eight kills. Jones also led the way in aces with four, followed by two each from Dunham and Burns. Torve and Schuler continued to orchestrate the attack with 25 and 17 kills, respectively. 

 

Siegle finished just shy of her career-high with 14 digs. Jones stayed on her double-double streak with 11 digs, while Torve tallied 10 to notch a double-double of her own.  

 

All tied up at seven in the opening set, the Bennies rattled off four straight points via two kills from Stadum and a pair of Dutch miscues, putting the visitors in front 11-7. Central came back to make it a one-point game, but a Jones kill sparked a 5-1 run. The Annandale, Minn. native followed with three straight aces, forcing a CC timeout in the mix. After a Dutch kill, Schuler fed Dunham for a kill to bring the score to 19-14.  

 

CSB closed out the opening set by taking six of the final seven points, as a kill from Elliott closed out set one in favor of the visiting team, 25-16. 

 

The Bennies stayed in control in the second set, as Dunham followed a Dutch service error with a kill and Jones added another ace to make it a six-point gap, 12-6. After a Central kill, Stadum tooled the block on back-to-back points, forcing the home team to call timeout staring down a 17-13 deficit.  

 

CSB coasted the rest of the set with Stadum locking in the win with a kill, 25-19. 

 

Dropping the third and fourth sets, 25-12 and 25-21, the Bennies looked to have lost momentum in the fifth. Five straight points by the Dutch forced head coach Nicole Hess to use a timeout as her team trailed 11-8. The break was exactly what Saint Benedict needed, as Torve found Stadum for a kill, and the senior followed an attack error with an ace to level the score at 11 to cue a Central timeout.  

 

The Dutch notched the next two out of the break to go ahead 13-11. Jones downed a ball sent over prematurely to shift momentum towards the visiting bench and an attack error ensued to even the score at 13 as CC used its final timeout of the match. The stoppage of play did not slow down the Bennies, as Burns came up clutch with back-to-back aces to secure the win, 15-13. 

 

Saint Ben's continues its stretch of contests on the road, as the Bennies head to Lexington, Ky., for the Transy Invite, hosted by Transylvania University, Friday-Saturday, Sept. 11-12. Saint Benedict will take on Asbury University, Elmhurst University, No. 3 Berry College, and Transylvania over the course of the two days.