BOX SCORE SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana needed four sets to take down Northwest Missouri State, but the Vikings notched their seventh straight win to open the season. The Vikings' 3-1 win (25-16, 25-27, 25-18, 25-17) moves them to 7-0 and drops the Bearcats to 4-3.
In 2008,
Ashley Buckley opened her head coaching career at Augustana with a 6-0 start and finished with a 23-11 mark and a trip to the NCAA tournament. The head Viking has now led Augustana to the best start since the 2000 Vikings opened 15-0 on their way to a national runner-up finish.
The Vikings finished their third match of the NSIC Challenge one kill short of a season high with 63 against NWMSU, including two Vikings tallying 19.
Holly Hafemeyer and
Courtney Ysker each smashed 19 kills while
Taylor Hrdlichka finished the match with 13 kills and a match-best .571 attack percentage.
Augustana put the clamps on the Northwest Missouri State offense with 15 total team blocks and 73 digs - both season highs - while limiting NWMSU to a .156 attack percentage. Hafemeyer flirted with Viking history by stuffing a career-high 11 Bearcat attacks, one shy of the single-match total block record.
Ysker tallied two solo blocks and 15 digs to go with her 19 kills to notch her second double-double in as many games.
Kayla Wallerich scooped up a season-high 20 digs and two more Vikings eclipsed the double-digit mark.
The Vikings opened the match with a 25-16 set win, but were upended in the second set after NWMSU raced out to an early lead. Augustana faced their largest deficit of the season down five points, but battled back before falling in extra points, 27-25.
With the match even at 1-1, the Vikings too closed the door on any Bearcat comeback attempt with 33 kills in the final two sets. Augustana finished with a .346 attack percentage and three hitters over .370.
Setter
Marissa Johnson surpassed the 50-assist mark for the third time this season with 53 against Northwest Missouri State and picked up her second double-double of the year with 14 digs to her name. From the libero position, Wallerich almost snuck in with a double-double after assisting on seven Viking kills.
The Vikings close out the NSIC Challenge with a 7 p.m. date on Sept. 14 with Missouri Western State.
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