ATLANTA, Ga. – The College of Saint Benedict volleyball team started the 2018 season with a split of two games Friday afternoon at the Emory Invitational in Atlanta, Ga. CSB (1-1) started the day with a 3-0 sweep of SUNY New Paltz, then fell 3-2 in a nail-biter to Texas Tyler.
In the first match of the day, Saint Benedict used a .319 team hitting percentage to sweep New Paltz. The two teams went back and forth early in the first set, but CSB pulled away for a 25-16 win, then won the next two sets 25-14 and 25-9.
Senior
Liz Schultz led the team with 14 kills and sophomore
Madison Weiss added eight. Sophomore setter
Katie Koch had 31 assists in the first start of her career, and junior defensive specialist
Haley LaValle finished with 18 digs. Schultz also had 13 digs to record her first double-double of the season.
In the second match of the day, two of the five sets went to extra points, and the two teams were evenly matched all the way through. CSB led Tyler (2-0) late in the first set, but the Patriots came back to win 26-24. CSB handled Tyler 25-12 in the second set to even the match 1-1, but the Patriots came back to win the third set 25-22. CSB was down 24-17, but scored five straight points to get within two before Tyler sealed the win.
Set four was another tight set, but ended 29-27 in favor of Saint Benedict thanks to a kill by Schultz and a block from Weiss and Schultz. The Patriots, however, came out strong in the fifth and final set and took a 9-3 lead before going on to win 15-9.
Hunter Weiss led the team with 17 kills and and a career-high nine block assists against the Patriots, and
Madison Weiss had 13 kills and a career-high 12 block assists. LaValle recorded 30 digs, which is just three shy of her career-best. Schultz added 19 digs and Koch added 13. Koch recorded a career-high 45 assists to secure the first double-double of her career.
CSB is back on the court at 9 a.m. CDT Saturday, Sept. 1, when it takes on Maryville (Tenn.), then again at 4:30 p.m. CDT when it takes on Whittier in Atlanta.
