Macalester vs. St. Benedict statistics

With the score standing at one set apiece, St. Benedict held off a Macalester rally to take the third set 25-23, and went on to gain a 3-1 decision over Macalester at the Leonard Center for its 17th victory in a row. No. 21-rated St. Benedict, one of four MIAC teams in the national top-25 poll, keeps a share of the MIAC lead with St. Thomas.

The upset-minded Scots played one of their better matches of the season to make things interesting. After dropping a 25-18 first set, Macalester surprised the 24-3 Blazers in set two, attacking at a .391 rate and jumping out on top 8-1 and later 12-6. CSB rallied to knot the score at 12-12 with six unanswered points, and led 15-14, but the Scots fought back with a big 8-2 rally to go up 22-17.

St. Ben's responded by dominating the first part of the third set to lead 18-10 and later in the set was on top 23-16. Momentum switched to the home team, however as Mac rattled off six unanswered points before the Blazers chalked up the final two points to hold on. CSB turned a 10-10 tie into a 25-15 win in the fourth set.

Erin Cusac (Jr., Pine River, Minn. / Pine River-Backus) registered a double-double to lead the way for Macalester, finishing with 10 kills on a .292 attack percentage, and 12 digs. Sonia Muzikarova (Sr., Bratislava, Slovakia / Gymnazium Bilikova) led the attack with 17 kills to go along with eight digs and three blocks.

Kiera Coulter (So., Davis, Calif.) provided 11 digs from her libero position.  Danielle Dweck (Fy., Glen Head, N.Y. / North Shore) handed out 34 assists.  Taylor Tinkham (Fy., St. Louis Park, Minn.) contributed four blocks.

St. Ben's was led by Beth Hanson with 40 assists and Andrea Millerbernd with five serving aces. Emma Jaynes had 11 kills and 13 digs.

The Scots head to Dubuque, Ia., this weekend (Oct. 17-18) to play matches with Clarke, Dubuque and Loras at the University of Dubuque.