BOX SCORE
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Late runs in the first and third sets by No. 4 Minnesota Duluth handed Augustana a 3-0 loss on Saturday afternoon. The Vikings' 25-19, 27-25, 25-19 defeat drops them to 17-5 overall, 9-5 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, while the Bulldogs move to 21-2, 12-2 in the NSIC.
Courtney Ysker's all-around performance earned her a double-double for the fourth consecutive match. The junior from Windom, Minn. tallied team-highs with 14 kills and 16 digs. UMD was led by Kate Lange's 18 kills which helped them to a .341 attack percentage (55-12-126), the highest for an Augustana opponent this season.
Minnesota Duluth's 61 digs and six blocks limited the Viking offense to a .223 attack percentage (39-12-121) and UMD's Julie Rainey scooped up 24 digs, a match-high. Holly Hafemeyer and Ysker each totaled five kills in the first set, but Hafemeyer was held to just four kills the rest of the match. Kayla Wallerich and Brittany Cech each reached double figures in digs with 13 and 11, respectively, which extend Cech's streak of double-digit digs to nine matches.
Augustana tied the first set at 13-all with three straight points, but Minnesota Duluth took a 1-0 lead in the match with four consecutive points to earn a 25-19 win. The Vikings' 13 kills couldn't match UMD's .378 first-set attack percentage and the Vikings found themselves down one set entering the second set.
After falling victim to late comebacks in their previous two matches, Augustana staged a six-point comeback in the second set, but eventually fell short by way of a 27-25 loss entering intermission. Augustana's defense, which amassed three blocks and 17 digs in the second set, led the comeback forcing six errors by the Bulldogs to take a 23-22 lead after falling behind 15-21.
The Vikings saved two match points before two Minnesota Duluth kills proved to be the deciding edge. Hafemeyer tallied two solo blocks -- she finished the match with three total blocks -- and combined with Taylor Hrdlichka for five error-free kills, but the Vikings only managed nine kills in the second stanza.
Once again, Minnesota Duluth pulled away late in the set to win the match-clinching third set, 25-19. Augustana twice pulled within one point at 18-17 and 19-18, but couldn't grab a lead and UMD finished the Vikings off with a pair of kills from Lange who leads the NSIC in kills per set.
The Vikings head on the road next weekend to Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston beginning with a Friday-night match against the Beavers on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.
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