CSB Volleyball and SJU Football make national tournaments; brackets released
The CSB volleyball and SJU football both made their respected national tournaments after the Bennies won the MIAC Championship and the Johnnies earned an at-large appearance. This is the second year in a row that both teams will play in the national tournaments.
The CSB volleyball and SJU football teams are going to the NCAA National Championships for the second year in a row.
Volleyball secured a bid after a 3-2 comeback win against MIAC No. 1 seed St. Olaf in Northfield to win the MIAC Tournament. On the way to the conference win, the team beat Augsburg at home and Gustavus in St. Peter. The team is currently 21-6.
In the team’s win against St. Olaf, senior Chaeli Haupert co-led the team in aces (2) and led in digs (32). Juniors Brooke Andries and McKenna Moehrle co-led the team in blocks (5), first-year Keira McManus in kills (13) and first-year Ginny Schuler in assists (21). Junior Kali Jones leads the team in points for the season (337.5) followed by senior Mackenzie Knofczynski (265.5) and McManus (237).
The Bennies play Washington University on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 11:30 a.m., the team they lost to in last year’s tournament. The game will be in Oshkosh, Wisc., a neutral site, and will be livestreamed on the NCAA website.
The SJU football team secured their tournament appearance through an at-large bid. The NCAA chooses the teams based on NPI index, which is calculated based on record and strength-of-schedule among other factors, and conference winners. Bethel won the MIAC and is the Johnnies’ only loss of the season; a game played at Bethel. St. John’s earned the 16th highest NPI overall, leading to an at-large bid. The Johnnies finished 9-1.
The Johnnies will play No. 25 Monmouth (9-1) in the second round; both teams get a first-round bye. Monmouth’s one loss of the season was a 7-21 loss at No. 5 Wartburg in their first game of the season. The Johnnies will play Monmouth on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 12:00 p.m. in Collegeville.
