SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 7 Augustana (25-4,16-3 NSIC) fell behind early in the match before showing their resiliency to come back and earn a crucial 27-25, 10-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-8, 5-set thriller in front of over 800 fans.
Set one laid the groundwork for what turned into an exciting night in the Elmen Center. The Vikings jumped out to a 5-2 lead and increased it to 10-5 before Northern State (16-11,9-10 NSIC) began to inch their way back. The Wolves scored three of the next four points to make it 11-8. Augustana was able to get their five-point lead back at 19-14 but things got tight when it was 24-20 Vikings. With Augustana on set-point, Northern State scored four straight to tie it at 24. After the Vikings took the lead at 25-24, the Wolves again tied the set. Augustana was able to grab the final two points to take it 27-25.
Set to was one to forget for Augustana. Before the Vikings knew it NSU was up 11-3. Northern State went on to take the set 25-10. Set three was an improvement for the Vikings but again they fell behind early at 7-2. The Vikings were able to cut the deficit to four but still lost 25-19.
In set four Augustana looked like they had found a rhythm, but was unable to really put it all together to grab a lead and then extend it. After trailing 3-1, the Vikings tied it at 3. They played Northern Close the whole set but couldn't quite get past a tie. After seven ties in the set, Augustana finally took the lead at 17-16. They went on a 4-point rally to take a 19-16 lead. A lead they wouldn't surrender, winning the set 25-20 and tying the match at two sets apiece.
Set five was a nail bitter. Augustana fell behind 3-1 for the fourth straight set. Once again Augustana was resilient and battled back to tie the set at three, before taking a 5-3 lead. Augustana reached the eight-point mark first with a 7-1 run before the team's switched sides. With all the momentum, the Vikings went on an 8-3 run to close out the set 15-8, and take the match 3-2.
Viking of the Match
Anna Sykora finished with 56 assists against the Wolves. She was one assist shy of tying her career-high of 57. Sykora added nine digs and four kills to her statistics.
Viking Notables
• Tahylr Banks moved into seventh for most digs in a single season with her 26. She now has 568 and is two digs shy of moving up to sixth
• Augustana improved to 21-9-2 all-time against Northern State and 7-5-2 when the match is played in Sioux Falls
• Augustana handed Northern State their fifth straight loss
• The Vikings win streak is up seven matches
• Augustana is now 6-4 against ranked teams this season
• The Vikings are 5-2 now in 5-set matches
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Brittany Cech earned her eighth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs
•
Courtney Place reached at least 20 kills for the fourth time this season
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Bailey Koch joins Cech and Place with double-digit kills with 13
• Banks led the team in digs with 26
• Augustana was out hit by the Wolves .296 to .271
Up Next
Augustana will celebrate senior day tomorrow afternoon before the start of their 3 p.m. match against MSU Moorhead. The Vikings will be honoring
Anna Sykora,
Kelsey Kaufmann,
Brittany Cech and
Dani Magdzas.
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