BOX SCORE
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Holly Hafemeyer's offense and strong Augustana defense led the Vikings to their second five-set victory (25-22, 19-25, 26-24, 21-25, 15-11) over MSU Moorhead this season. Augustana's win improves their record to 19-6, 11-6 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and the Dragons fall to 14-11, 7-10 in the NSIC.
Hafemeyer tied her career-high with 24 kills and hit an outstanding .408 to lead all players in both categories. Kayla Wallerich and Courtney Ysker each recorded 20-plus digs to counteract MSU Moorhead's NSIC-leading defense which tallied 13 blocks.
As a team, the Vikings and Dragons each picked up 89 digs to keep the opposing offenses below .200 attack percentages. Augustana also collected eight total blocks, led by Taylor Hrdlichka's five block assists and five different Vikings each were part of a block.
Hafemeyer and Ysker started the night off strong with five kills apiece in the first set and Augustana's back-row defense helped the Vikings to a 25-22 first-set win. The Vikings withstood a late surge by the Dragons and Kelsey Kaufmann and Ysker's back-to-back kills finished the set in favor of the home team.
An eight-point run by MSU Moorhead created enough distance for the Dragons to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-19 second-set win. Augustana hit just .111 (10-6-36) in the second stanza while the Dragons turned in 16 kills to tie the match entering intermission.
The Vikings found themselves down five points on several occasions in the third set, but a steady comeback gave Augustana the 26-24 win. The Vikings took advantage of two Dragons colliding at the net with a Marissa Johnson kill drawing them within two points at 21-19 -- Johnson finished the night with a match-high 60 assists. Forced to use their final timeout after the injury, the Dragons couldn't halt two Viking three-point runs and didn't capitalize on their set-point opportunity, eventually falling in the third set.
MSU Moorhead raced out to an early lead in the fourth set and held an advantage throughout, once again evening the match with a 25-21 win. Hafemeyer hit an error-free six kills, but the rest of the Vikings couldn't match the senior middle blocker's offensive output and managed a .067 (13-10-45) attack percentage.
Augustana opened up a 6-1 lead in the fifth set, but the resilient Dragons countered with a 7-3 run to pull within one point just after the court change. Ysker's service ace gave the Vikings a three-point cushion, but MSUM pulled within one point again after a kill and a Viking error. Kaufmann's ninth kill was answered by a Dragon termination before an error set the Vikings up to serve for the win. Brittany Cech's eighth kill of the night sealed the Vikings' third consecutive win over MSU Moorhead, all in five-set fashion.
Augustana now turns their focus to No. 20 Northern State who sits two games ahead of the Vikings after taking down No. 18 Wayne State in five sets on Friday night. Augustana and NSU will battle for the fourth seed in the US Bank/NSIC Tournament on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Elmen Center.
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