TOPEKA, Kan. – Augustana Volleyball (1-0) opened the 2015 season in sweeping fashion, as they defeated the Gorillas of Pittsburg State (0-1) in straight sets by scores of 31-29, 25-8, 30-28 at the Washburn Invitational.

Junior Brittany Cech led the attack for the Vikings with 13 kills against the Gorillas while the middle blocking unit stepped up in a big way.

Junior's Becca Finley and Kelsey Kaufmann each tallied two total blocks while fellow junior Ivy Pearson came up with a big solo block at the end of the third set to close the door on the Gorillas, and give head coach Dan Meske his first career victory as a collegiate head coach.

Sophomore libero ,Tahlyr Banks, led the team with 14 digs followed closely by redshirt freshman Lauren Waite with 10. Sydney Hunsley added eight kills and a solo block for the Vikings
The Vikings added four services aces and averaged 13 assists as a team in the three sets.

The Vikings started out slow in the first set and had to battle back after trailing to Pitt late. The two teams traded set points buts the Vikings were able to string together two quality serves to earn a 31-29 set victory.
Set two went the way of the Vikings early as they jumped out to an early lead and held on for the easy victory 25-8.

Set three was once again neck-and-neck as the Gorillas were forcing the Vikings had to battle back late. The middle hitters for the Vikings stepped and put the set and match away on a block from Ivy Pearson.

The Vikings will be back in action this evening against host, Washburn. The Ichabods are a perfect 28-0 in their tournament since they changed the tournament name from the "Lady Blues Classic". The match is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Live stats for tonight's match can be found HERE.