ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team used a big comeback in the fourth set to finish off its first road victory over the College of Saint Benedict since 1996 with a 25-23, 25-27, 25-23, 25-22 win on Friday evening at Claire Lynch Hall.

After each of the first three sets were decided by just two points, Saint Ben's (14-8, 6-2 MIAC) threatened to send the match to a decider by opening up a commanding 15-4 lead early in the fourth set. St. Olaf (12-11, 5-3 MIAC), however, fought all the way back, winning the next 11 points to tie the match and later won the final six points to close out the victory.

The win was the first for the Oles in St. Joseph since a four-set victory on Oct. 19, 1996, as CSB had won its last 18 home matches in the series. St. Olaf has won three of the last four meetings in the series after losing 10 in a row to the Bennies from 2011-18. Both teams were ranked in the initial set of NCAA regional rankings released earlier this week.

With St. Olaf playing without starting libero Selena Rodriguez, first year Morgan Ryan recorded a season-high 25 digs to go with six assists and a pair of aces. Ryan also served during the Oles' 11-0 run during the fourth set.

Offensively, junior Catherine Moore had 19 kills and just two errors to hit .486 in the win, while fifth-year senior Katelyn Lannom added 15 kills with only two errors to hit .448. Senior Nicole Banitt added eight kills on 12 swings while hitting .583 to help the Oles hit .251 as a team. First year Paige Christophersen handed out 33 assists and had seven digs, while classmate Taylin Gosch contributed 17 assists and nine digs.

St. Olaf never trailed in the opening set and hit a match-high .364 on its way to a one-set lead. The Oles started the match by winning six of the first eight points and held their largest lead of the set at 16-10 before the Bennies put together a late rally to force the only tie of the set at 22-22. A service error and a kill by sophomore Maycie Rogers brought up set points for St. Olaf, which sealed the set on the second of two set points on Lannom's fifth kill of the set.

The second set featured 10 ties and five lead changes before CSB rallied late to even the match at a set apiece. The Oles used a 4-0 run that included two kills by Banitt to turn a 17-15 deficit into a 19-17 lead and had two set points leading 24-22. Saint Ben's, however, saved the two set points and a third at 25-24 as part of a 5-1 close to the set to tie the set at one set apiece.

St. Olaf trailed by a 13-9 margin midway through the third set before grabbing the lead late on with a 6-0 run that resulted in a 22-18 lead. Trailing 23-19, the hosts won the next three points to get within one, but Christophersen ended the run with her lone kill of the match to bring up set points. After a CSB kill, Moore ended the set with her sixth kill on 11 errorless swings in the set to give St. Olaf a 2-1 lead.

Saint Ben's surged out to a 15-4 lead in the fourth set before the 11-0 run that included four kills by Lannom and two aces by Ryan. After seeing its double-digit-point lead evaporate, CSB responded by building a 22-19 lead with a 6-3 run but did not win a point the rest of the way. Banitt had three kills during St. Olaf's 6-0 run to end the match, including one on match point. The Oles held the Bennies to a match-low .104 attack percentage to win the fourth set despite hitting just .167 in the set.

St. Olaf continues its weekend on the road by traveling to Moorhead to take on Concordia-Moorhead at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22.