SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - No. 20 Augustana volleyball (17-8, 10-7 NSIC) came away victorious Friday night, sweeping Minnesota State 25-13, 28-26 and 25-17, to gain the one match advantage over the Mavericks in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings.  

In a match that saw two teams tied for sixth in the NSIC, Augustana came out red hot in the set, hitting .333, in a match they knew they had to have. The Vikings opened set-one on a 4-1 run before the Mavericks (15-10, 9-8 NSIC) tied the set at five. The teams battled evenly for the early portion of the match, but hitting errors proved disastrous for Minnesota State. Ivy Pearson came into serve late and found success. With Pearson serving, Augustana was able to score the final five points of set to close it out.

Set-two was a different story for Augustana, as it took the Vikings a strong rally late to hold off the Mavericks. Trailing 14-10 midway through the set, Anna Sykora spotted an opening in the Maverick defense for one of her three kills in the set. Sykora's kill seemed to spark the Vikings. After an Augustana service error, Lauren Waite would use a pass from Sykora to get the kill allowing Alex Banker to serve. Banker used an ace, and got help from the Mavericks who committed back-to-back set errors, to tie the match at 15. Minnesota would make a comeback of their own, taking a 23-19 lead late. Brittany Cech, Waite and Sykora each had kills to pull Augustana within one. The Vikings scored three of the next four points to take a 25-24 lead. At 26-26, it was a Maverick service error that gave the Vikings the final lead, and a Sykora kill to put the set away.

Momentum was on Augustana's side entering the third set. After falling behind 2-0 early, it was once again a string of Pearson serves that steadied the Viking ship, giving Augustana a 7-2 advantage. Minnesota State would get two-points back before Augustana once again went on a run, this of the 5-0 variety. Minnesota State would burn their final timeout, and fail to get back in the match. Augustana closed out the set, and the match, 25-17.

Augustana was led offensively Friday by Waite who had a match-high, 11 kills. Ashley Wilson followed closely with nine kills of her own, while Becca Finley and Brittany Cech each added five.

Anna Sykora led the way in assists this match, going a perfect 21-for-21 in set attempts. Alex Banker added 12 assists and Tahlyr Banks and Cech each had two apiece.

Defensively the Vikings were led by libero, Tahlyr Banks, who had a match high 17 digs. Cech also reach double-digit digs against Minnesota State wit h11 while Pearson had nine.

The Viking block found success Friday night with a match high five total blocks as a team. Wilson stuffed three while Dani Magdzas and Finley add three and two respectively.

Augustana will be in action once again tomorrow night for their final home match of the season, honoring the seniors before the match. The Vikings will host the No. 1 team in the country, Concordia-St. Paul in a clash of top-25 teams at 3 p.m. You can follow all the action live via Twitter @augievolleyball or through Live State and Live Video, found HERE.