ST. PAUL, MINN. – All season long, the St. Catherine University volleyball team has hung with the best teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they haven't been able to close out a victory against their conference foes. Those struggles continued for St. Kate's Saturday afternoon, who, despite winning the first set 25-19, fell to the College of Saint Benedict 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 18-25, 24-26).

"We played well, especially in the first and fourth sets," volleyball head coach Corey Phelps said after the game. "We just couldn't come out on top."

The Wildcats were definitely the better of the two teams to start the first set, as they roared to an 8-4 lead thanks to a serving run by Larissa Kisch (Oakdale, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall). In fact, St. Kate's serving was on point in the first set, as the team served three aces and committed just two serving errors in the process. The Wildcats offense was also stellar in the first set. St. Kate's hit nine kills and just three errors in 32 attempts, while Saint Ben's struggled on the other side of the net, hitting -.025 with more errors than kills.

The Wildcats fantastic first set play led to a 25-19 set one victory, which was the first time all season the team has won an opening set against a MIAC opponent. St. Kate's looked to take a 2-0 lead over the Blazers, but came out flat to start the second set. Saint Ben's jumped out to a 5-1 lead as the Wildcats struggled to find a rhythm on offense.

St. Kate's did manage to cut back into the Blazers lead and eventually tied the match at 11. However, Saint Ben's managed to jump out to a 19-13 lead, forcing Phelps to call a timeout. The timeout was exactly what the Wildcats needed. Little by little, St. Kate's chipped away at the deficit until, eventually, it only found itself down 23-22. However, attack errors proved costly for the Wildcats in the second set, as Saint Ben's won the set 25-22.

St. Kate's looked to bounce back in the third set, but again needed a late rally to try and catch the Blazers. Down 23-13, Libby Kreuser (White Bear Lake, Minn. / Totino-Grace) gave the Wildcats hope with a seven point serving run. The first year middle served two of her match-high six aces in the third set and cut Saint Ben's lead to 23-18. Kreuser would have served her third ace of the set but just missed hitting the end line, and the Blazers took set three 25-18.

The fourth set started similarly to the third, with Saint Ben's jumping out to a 8-3 lead with another long service run. However, the Wildcats showed resiliency in the set and battled back, thanks again to their strong serving. Johna Radke (Muskego, Wis. / Muskego) and Bailey Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) recorded two aces, cutting the Blazers lead to 8-5 and 9-7. However, St. Kate's had no answer for Meghan Koop, who scored four straight points for Saint Ben's with kills from the outside.

Down 15-11, Payton Baker (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) came off the bench and provided a huge offensive spark for the Wildcats. The sophomore hit a huge kill from the outside to stop the Blazer run and give Abby Palmer (Pequot Lakes, Minn. / Pequot Lakes) a chance at a huge serving run. Palmer's tough serve forced Cami Hoover to hit into the hands of Kreuser and Kelly Breuer (St. Paul, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran), cutting the lead to 15-12.

Saint Ben's won the next two points before Baker again stopped the bleeding with a kill from the outside. After that, Kreuser served four straight points, two of which were aces, to pull St. Kate's within one of the Blazers lead.

After Kreuser's run, the Wildcats managed to stay within one or two points of Saint Ben's but were never able take the lead.  St. Kate's looked poised to take the lead after Breuer's kill to tie the game at 24 but kills from Hoover and Koop sealed both the set and match for Saint Ben's.

The Wildcats out-served and out-blocked the Blazers in the match, with 12 aces and eight blocks. Breuer assisted on seven of the eight blocks, while Kreuser and Hannah Flatness (Elk Mound, Wis. / Elk Mound) each had three block assists. Kreuser also led the way with seven aces and Palmer was the top hitter with 15 kills.

Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn. / Jefferson) led the team with 23 digs, while Kisch was the top setter with 19 assists.

With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 11-12 and it is 0-6 in MIAC play. The Wildcats will return to the court next Wednesday, when they face Concordia-Morehead in Morehead, Minnesota at 7 p.m.