SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - No. 20 Augustana (16-7, 9-6 NSIC)  struggles on the road as they fall to 3-5 away from the Elmen Center and drop a five-set heartbreaker to  MSU Moorhead (13-10, 6-9 NSIC) Friday night 25-22, 27-25, 21-25, 21-25, 6-16.

Augustana came out hitting everything in sight early in set one. The Vikings got things going early with a kill from Ashley Wilson and used some impressive hitting to grab a nine point lead early in the set. The Dragons clawed their way back into the set, cutting the Viking lead to two, at 16-14. Augustana used a block by Becca Finley and Sydney Hunsley to right the ship, before going on to take set-one 25-22.

Augustana fell behind by two quick points in set-two but battled back to tie the match at four. A block by Wilson gave the Vikings their first lead of set-two. Augustana was able to extend the lead to two, before the both teams traded points, allowing the Vikings to maintain a two point lead for a portion of the second set. Augustana put a few scores together to grab a five point lead, their largest of the second set. It didn't take long for MSUM to tie the game as they scored seven of the next nine points to tie the set at 16 all. After an Augustana timeout, the two teams traded points till the 25-25 mark. The Vikings got back-to-back huge blocks, the first from Sydney Hunsley and Finley and the second from Waite and Finley, to close out set-two by a score of 27-25.

Augustana fell behind early in set-three but were able to go on a 3-0 run to tie the match up at five all. They got their first lead of the set on a block by Magdzas and Finley. MSUM didn't trail long in the set. After the Viking block the Dragons went on a 6-0 run to grab a 13-9 lead. Augustana made a few runs but were unable to close the gap. Augustana dropped set-three 25-21.

After giving up the first point of the set for the third consecutive set, Augustana and MSUM traded points once again to 8-8. MSUM was able to grab a two point lead twice in the set, but each time the Vikings were able to tie it but not gain the lead. Augustana kept the set close, battling each time they fell behind. MSUM was able to grab their largest lead of five, before closing out the fourth set, 25-21.

Set-five didn't go as planned for Augustana. The Vikings gave up the first point of the set once again and MSUM took advantage. The Dragons got on an early run and grabbed an 8-3 lead and never looked backed, winning the set 15-6 and the match 3-2.

Serving played a big role in the match as Augustana only had one service ace compared to six service errors in the five-set loss while MSUM had eight aces and only four errors.
Lauren Waite posted her third straight match of  double-digit kills with 19. Wilson also had double-digit kills with 11, Brittany Cech had nine.

Augustana was blocking everything in site early in the match before MSUM started finding the holes. Vikings had 15 total blocks as a team. They were led by Finley who seven. Wilson and Hunsley added six and five respectively.

Anna Sykora led the team in assists Friday with 34 but Alex Banker was able to find a rhythm as well and get an even 20.

Cech the the Vikings defensively with 20 digs followed by Tahlyr Banks with 18 and Ivy Pearson with nine.

This was the third time this season that the Vikings have dropped a five-set match, and the second time when they had a 2-0 lead. Augustana fell 0-3 in five-set matches this season, the previous two coming at the hands of  Washburn and Concordia-St. Paul.

Augustana will hit the road again as they make the trek to take on No. 2 Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D. tomorrow night. The match is set to begin at 5 p.m. You can follow all the action via Twitter @augievolleyball or through live stats and video HERE.