ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College volleyball team battled seventh-ranked Saint Benedict before ultimately losing in three sets, 25-20, 25-15, 25-15 Wednesday evening in the Leonard Center. The Scots are now 3-13 overall and 0-4 in the conference, while the Bennies improve to 16-1, 3-0 MIAC.

Macalester gave Saint Ben's all it could handle in the first set, leading by as many as four points and never trailing by more than a point until late. A pair of attack errors by the Bennies put the Scots on top, 20-19. But six consecutive points by Saint Ben's gave the visitors a 25-20 victory in the first set. First year outside hitter Eliza King (Novato, Calif./San Marin) tallied five kills and first year outside hitter Zoe Lowe (Longmont, Colo./Longmont) added four kills in the opening set.

The second set was all Bennies, who built a 21-11 advantage before closing out the set, 25-15. The Scots jumped out to a 6-3 lead to start the third set, with kills by Lowe, senior middle hitter Ashley Helfinstein (Sunnyvale, Calif./Homestead) and juniors Sofia Parmelee (Tenafly, N.J./Tenafly) and Kendall Ford (Seattle, Wash./The Northwest School). Saint Ben's answered with seven straight points and never looked back, wrapping up the Bennies' 13th straight win with a 25-15 victory in the third set.

King and Lowe led Macalester with eight kills apiece, while Ford and Parmelee had five and four kills, respectively. Sophomore setter Claire Loomans (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest) recorded 24 assists, with first year defensive specialist Katrina Schoen (Grafton, Wis./Cedarburg) tallying 12 digs. Parmelee also contributed defensively with three blocks. Madison Weiss led all players with 17 digs and seven blocks.

Macalester goes on the road to take on MIAC foe Concordia on Saturday, Oct. 5. The first serve is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in Moorhead, Minn.

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