BOX SCORE MARSHALL, Minn. – No. 1 Southwest Minnesota State was too much to handle for Augustana as they fell in three sets, 25-23, 25-20, 25-18 on Saturday night. The Vikings are 17-9 overall on the season with a 11-7 record in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Mustangs improve to a league-leading 25-1 overall, 17-1 in NSIC action.
Augsutana entered this match ranked 10
th in the Central Region and tied for fourth in the NSIC with Wayne State and Minnesota State.
The Vikings held a two-point lead before surrendering four straight points and dropping the first set 25-23. After battling back to take a lead at 20-19, the Vikings couldn't close out the set.
Kayla Wallerich's two service aces sparked Augustana's resurgence in the first set, but the Vikings hit a lowly .103 as a team with four attack errors.
Augustana was forced to play catch-up from the start of the second set and allowed the Mustangs to make several multi-point runs on the way to a 25-20 second set victory.
Holly Hafemeyer led a comeback attempt with a trio of kills, but the hole was too deep for the Vikings escape.
Southwest Minnesota State used a key six-point run to take a lead and closed the match with their 25-18 set victory. The Vikings lost the third set on a 15-6 run and were held to just seven kills while the Mustangs hit 18.
Hafemeyer was joined by
Taylor Hrdlichka and
Courtney Ysker to all hit a team-high nine kills.
Marissa Johnson assisted on 30 of the Vikings 32 kills.
Grace Sanders scooped up 15 digs in three sets of work, followed by Ysker with 12, and
Julia Witt at 11.
The Vikings finish the regular season on the road beginning at Winona State on Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.
