ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University volleyball team hid a bit of a speed bump in its conference opener last week.  The Wildcats faced the College of Saint Benedict in its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opener last week, falling 3-1 (26-24, 10-25, 18-25, 22-25) despite making a near comeback in the final set. On Wednesday, St. Kate's has a chance to earn its first conference win of the season, as it takes on Bethel University at 7 p.m. in Arden Hills, Minnesota.

Both the Royals and Wildcats are looking for their first MIAC wins of the season after memorable matches last week. Bethel and Saint Mary's opened conference play of Tuesday last week, with the Cardinals upsetting the Royals 3-2 (25-20, 13-25, 23-25, 25-20, 13-15) in a thrilling five set match.

Live stats and video will be available for those unable to attend Wednesday night's match in person, and score updates can be found on St. Kate's official Twitter page (@stkateswildcats).

Here are the five facts to know before first serve:

14/9 – St. Kate's defeated Occidental 3-2 (21-25, 16-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-13) on Saturday thanks to tremendous play both defensively and offensively. The Wildcats out-served the Tigers 14-9, with multipole service aces from Kelly Breuer (St. Paul, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran), Megan Schwarzrock (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) and Emma Nelson (Byron, Minn. / Bryon). They also out-blocked Occidental 9-4, six of those from Hannah Flatness (Elk Mound, Wis. / Elk Mound)

98 – St. Kate's currently leads the MIAC in overall service aces (98) and aces per set (2.18) and rank in the top-5 in both categories in conference play. Breuer leads the MIAC in service aces per set with an average of .58 and total service aces with 25.

8 – Thanks to a 5-0 start to the season, Bethel holds an overall record of 8-2 with a 0-1 mark in MIAC play. However, the Royals are 3-2 in their last five matches after suffering losses to UW-Steven's Point and Saint Mary's.

.376 – Bethel middle blocker Kristen Stern was projected to be one of the top hitters in the MIAC this season. Through the Royals first 10 matches, Stern has been just that, as she leads the conference in overall hitting percentage (.376) and is fifth in kills per set (3.29).

131 – Bethel and St. Kate's have combined for 131 blocks this season, one of the highest totals in the MIAC. Royal Karin Canakes leads the MIAC in blocks/set average (1.00) with 18 total blocks this season, while Flatness and Breuer rank ninth and 11^th respectively.