A seven-point match set lead wasn’t enough for the St. Thomas volleyball team as they fell to St. Benedict Saturday night at Schoenecker Arena in the MIAC championship in five very competitive sets.

The Tommies (10-1 MIAC, 25-6 overall) had a 2-1 set lead and quickly took control of the fourth set, leading the Blazers (9-2 MIAC, 19-8 overall) 9-2. With little room for error, St. Ben’s turned its offense around in the second half of the set, winning 27-25 and forcing a fifth set on St. Thomas.

Middle hitter Whitney Lloyd said the loss came down to just a few plays.

“I think they came back so tough because they had nothing to lose and everything to gain,” she said. “But we had a lot of good energy and it really came down to only a couple of points.”

Lloyd tallied 18 kills and 48 total attacks against the Blazers. She led both teams in blocks with 20.

Two of the five sets went into extra points, and the Blazers emerged victorious with a 15-10 final set win to clinch the conference title, giving them an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.

Middle hitter Julia Spacek, who contributed 12 kills and 33 total attacks to the Tommie offense, said the Blazers’ consistency was the key to their win.

“We need to have composure and mental toughness when it really matters,” Spacek said. “We can’t allow some other team to get in our heads and make us back down.”

Saturday’s match was the Tommies’ first conference loss of the season.

Coach Thanh Pham, who has won ten MIAC titles in his St. Thomas career, said the team will use this loss to their benefit heading forward.

“We had our chances, but compared to St. Ben’s, they capitalized on our mistakes. Hopefully we can get an at-large bid into the tournament and learn from this,” he said.

The Tommies now wait until Monday to see if they receive an at-large bid into the national tournament.

Lauren Andrego can be reached at lauren.andrego@stthomas.edu.