Augustana University Athletics

 

Augustana-Northern State Box

The Augustana Vikings suffered a loss to Northern State in five games Friday night at the Elmen Center. The loss came after a three-game sweep of Chadron State earlier in the day, and dropped Augie to 2-1 in the tournament.

Augustana defeated Chadron State 25-11, 25-14, 25-15, while NSU edged the Vikings 25-17, 15-25, 17-25, 25-16, 15-11.
 

Augustana held an early 11-9 lead in the first set against the Wolves (1-1) before a service ace by Northern's Caitlin Oelke started the Wolves on a run. They outscored the Vikings 10-2 and put the game score at 20-13. Poor hitting plagued Augustana as they recorded just nine kills and 12 errors and were unable to mount a comeback, losing 25-17.

 

Augustana seniors Ellen Andrews and Jenna Hultgren turned in on in set two, combining for 10 of the Vikings' 17 kills. The Vikings only committed three errors and back-to-back kills by Andrews secured the set for Augustana, 25-16.

 

The Vikings started set three down 1-5 thanks to strong serving by the Wolves, but a service ace by freshman Grace Sanders, a couple of Northern State errors, and back-to-back kills from Hultgren put the Vikings ahead 7-5. Strong blocking by the Vikings kept Northern from challenging for the lead again and Augustana won, 25-17.

 

The teams battled back and forth in set four before a service ace by Northern's Megan Gilbraith and string of Augie errors put the Wolves ahead 18-10. Northern would not let Augie back in and took set four 25-16.

 

The Vikings trailed in set five by as many as four before kills from freshman Brooke Lewko and freshman Breanna Brandt plus a Northern error brought the score to 5-6. The set stayed close until a kill by Lewko forced the Wolves to take a timeout with Augie down 9-10. A service ace from Northern's Kelsey Aden and several Viking attack errors closed the game for the Northern, who won 15-11.

 

Andrews and Hultgren recorded 16 kills each, and Hultgren added 19 digs. Erickson recorded 12 kills and freshman Megan Bezdicek contributed 11 kills and 11 digs. Brandt notched 52 assists and 19 digs while Sanders recorded a team-high 26 digs.

 

The Vikings had little trouble in defeating Chadron State in straight sets.
 

Erickson served six straight points in the first set to give the Vikings an 8-3 lead. The Eagles pulled to within three with a kill by Alyssa Norton, but Brandt served eight more points in a row to put the game out of reach for Chadron State. The Vikings recorded 12 kills and only two errors in the first set.

 

The Vikings started the second by outscoring the Eagles 7-3 and kept the lead throughout the set. A service ace by junior Beth Talcott followed by a kill from Hultgren ended the set with a 25-14 Viking victory.

 

Both teams traded points in the third until Hultgren served six straight points to make the Viking lead 17-12. Augustana only allowed three more points and completed the sweep with a 25-15 win.

 

Nine Vikings recorded kills in the win, with Andrews and Bezdicek each tallying seven. Erickson and Hultgren each added six kills. Lewko contributed three kills in her first career match, with Brandt also posting three.

 

Defensively, Sanders recorded a match-high 15 digs and Hultgren added 13.