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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana volleyball team opened the second annual Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Challenge with a 3-1 victory over Northwest Missouri State. The Vikings took down the Bearcats in the home opener with scores of 25-23, 22-25, 25-19, and 25-16.
Augustana improves to a record of 4-1, while forcing Northwest Missouri State to drop to an overall record of 2-3.
Senior
Courtney Ysker led the way for the Vikings with 15 kills.
Ashley Wilson and
Bailey Koch followed Ysker's performance with 14 kills a piece. Koch's 14 kills set a new career high for the sophomore right side middle blocker.
Wilson had a team-best .385 attack percentage (14-4-26) against the bearcats, while the Vikings finished as a team with a .229 (56-23-144) attack percentage for the match.
Augustana recorded 20 blocks in the match by using its size as an advantage, while Northwest Missouri State only tallied 10.
Becca Finley led the Vikings with eight blocks, Koch followed with six.
Brittany Cech led the team in digs with 15, while recently named NSIC Defensive Player of the Week
Tahlyr Banks added 10 digs respectively.
Setter
Marissa Johnson played a key role in the home win against the Bearcats. Johnson picked up her fourth double-double of the 2014 season with 35 assists and 12 digs.
Augustana jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first set on the way to winning 25-23. Koch and Ysker's combined 14 kills powered the Vikings in the close set.
Northwest Missouri State came out strong in the second set, resulting in a 12-6 early. Augustana came within one point, but a strong performance from the Bearcats' Miranda Foster pushed the team to a 25-22 victory.
The Vikings responded in a big way, dominating the majority of the third set of the match. Augustana started with an early 4-0 run, followed by 5-0 run late in the set. The solid play forced Northwest Missouri State to take a late timeout in the set to try and regroup. The Vikings never gave them the chance, cruising to the 25-19 victory.
With a 2-1 lead in the match, Augustana started the fourth set in style with a 6-0 early run. The Bearcats took a quick timeout to cool off the red-hot Vikings, but it was for nothing. Ysker came out of the timeout with a service ace, allowing Augustana to go on a mini 3-0 run. Wilson closed out the match with a kill to win the fourth set 25-16, securing the win for the Vikings.
Augustana will face Missouri Western State in its second game on Friday at the NSIC Challenge at 4:30 p.m.
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