Club volleyball enters tournament season, claims big wins

The St Ben’s club volleyball team competed in the St. Thomas tournament, their first competition of the spring season, on March 20. The squad went 3-3, dropping their first two matches against St. Thomas and Minnesota State before rallying to win three straight against St. Cloud State, Minnesota-Duluth and Bemidji State before losing again in the semifinals to Minnesota State.

According to senior Elena Lozano, this is the first tournament the team was able to compete in. The earlier tournaments on the schedule were cancelled for a variety of reasons.

The biggest school the team faced off against in St. Paul was St. Cloud State, whose 16,000-person strong student body dwarfs St. Ben’s 1500. Wins against much larger schools like St. Cloud State and Minnesota State demonstrate how much work the team puts in during practice.

“It’s very satisfying to see all our work during practice come to fruition. We just show up and play our game as we’ve done during practice, and it seems to work pretty well,” Lozano said.

“Defeating bigger state schools is such a reward for our hard work. I think our team is constantly growing and improving, so these wins are what keep us going and having fun,” sophomore Adriana Mariani said via email.

Lozano echoed that sentiment. The squad competed just once last school year before November’s Minnesota State tournament, their first of the 2021-22 season. In November’s MSU tournament they faced off against the even larger North Dakota State, beating them 2-0.

That tournament saw the Bennies face off against five Division I club teams, including both the A and B teams from the University of Minnesota. Facing such stiff competition has propelled the team to new heights.

“In my four years here at least, it seems our team has never been stronger than it is now. Although a majority of our team is in their freshman/sophomore year, the skill level is impressively high, and it’s rejuvenating and fun to play with a team that wants to just have fun and play the sport we know best,” Lozano said.

CSB will face the same five teams it played at St. Thomas on Saturday, March 26, at the St. Olaf tournament in Minnetonka. The team will then host the Northern Club Volleyball Tournament on April 9 and 10 in St. Joseph.

“I think it would be fun to hopefully get some student fans out there. We are always pushing to beat St. Thomas, of course, which I think is 100% possible,” Mariani said.