BOX SCORE
BEMIDJI, Minn. - Stingy defense led Augustana to a sweep of Bemidji State Friday night on the road. The Vikings improve to 18-5, 10-5 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with the 25-16, 25-19, 25-15 win and the Beavers falls to 5-18, 1-14 in NSIC competitions.
Kayla Wallerich led the Augustana defense with 17 digs as the NSIC-leading Vikings picked up 56 in the match. Seven blocks also contributed to the Beavers hitting just .043 (29-24-117) -- the second lowest for an Augustana opponent this season.
Brittany Cech and Courtney Ysker led the Augustana offesce with nine kills apiece, and five different Vikings tallied at least four kills. The Augustana attack was held to .196 (35-14-107), but the Vikings were still able to walk away with a three-set victory.
Augustana reeled off a 10-1 run to propel them to a 25-16 first-set win. Five Vikings recorded kills and they opened the match with eight before recording their first attack error. The Augustana defense paved the way with 25 digs and three blocks which limited the Beavers to a .043 attack percentage in the first stanza.
Locked in a tight second set, Augustana closed on an 8-1 run for their 25-19 second-set win and held a 2-0 lead in the match. The Vikings faced an 18-17 deficit before four BSU errors and a pair of Taylor Hrdlichka kills led Augustana to a second-set win.
The Vikings raced out to an early lead and used a series of runs to put away the Beavers 25-15 to win the match in straight sets. Wallerich and Cech each led five-point surges from the service line and Cech hit a team-high five kills in the fifth set.
Augustana returns to action tomorrow afternoon when they face Minnesota Crookston on the road at 3 p.m.
--- GoAugie.com ---
