ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The 2011 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Volleyball Playoffs began Tuesday with a pair of quarterfinal matches, and the higher seed prevailed in both contests by identical 3-1 scores.

No. 3 Bethel scored a 3-1 win over No. 6 Augsburg in Arden Hills in one quarterfinal, and No. 4 Saint Benedict was also a 3-1 winner over No. 5 Gustavus in St. Joseph Tuesday night. The two winners advance to Thursday's semifinal rounds where the conference's regular-season co-champions await. Bethel will travel to No. 2 St. Thomas and the Blazers are headed to Moorhead to face No. 1 Concordia.

The Royals won the first two sets of their quarterfinal match by identical 25-22 scores. Augsburg fought back to take the third set, also 25-22, but the Royals closed out the win with a 25-18 victory in the fourth set. Amy Werner led a solid all-around performance by Bethel with 18 kills, three digs and three blocks. Kate Smith had 46 assists and 11 digs, Valerie Smith recorded 31 digs and Nicole Wriedt add 10 digs, as five Royals had at least seven kills.

Augsburg's offense was led by by the dual threat of Micha Sater and Colleen Ourada. Sater had 15 kills and 11 digs while Ourada added 14 kills and six block assists. Emily McCourt handed out 42 assists with 10 digs, and Katelyn Berens had a team-high 28 digs for the Auggies. Augsburg's season ended with a 16-12 record, while Bethel improved to 22-8 with the win.

The other quarterfinal followed a similar script. Saint Benedict took the first two sets, 25-21 and 25-20. Gustavus made things interesting with a 25-22 win in the third set, but the Blazers finished off their Playoff win with a 25-15 victory in the fourth set. Four CSB players all reached double digits in kills, led by Lexi Alm's 16 kills and 25 digs. Chelsie Sobieck had 13 kills and 12 digs, Callie Neumann added 11 kills and Alexa Rinde had 10 kills in the win. Taya Kockelman had 37 assists for the Blazers, and Chelsea Rachel added 17 digs.

Gustavus had a pair of hitters in double figures Tuesday, led by Angela Aherendt's 15 kills. Emily Phillips added 13 kills and six total blocks. Maela Noennig had 39 set assists and 13 digs for the Gusties, Olivia Warren added 12 digs and seven kills and Shelby Nosan had 11 digs in the loss. Gustavus wrapped up its season with a 20-10 record just a year after winning one conference match, and Saint Benedict advances with an 18-11 record.

Both of Thursday's semifinal matches are set to set to begin at 7 p.m. The two winners will advance to Saturday's championship match, which will be played at 7 p.m. at the highest remaining seed. The winner of the 2011 MIAC Volleyball Playoff championship will receive the MIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Playoffs.

Courtesy of MIAC