ST. PAUL, Minn. -The sixth seeded Augustana University volleyball team (27-6) saw their season come to an end Friday night at the hands of No. 2 seed Southwest Minnesota State (28-5) in a five set thriller (25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 17-25, 9-17). The Vikings made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006.

After Southwest Minnesota State grabbed the first point of the match, Augustana struck back to take an early 3-2 lead. After SMSU scored two straight, the Vikings went on a 3-0 run to take a 6-4 lead. The two teams remained tight throughout, each going on their own mini runs to take a small lead or tie it. With the score tied at 13, Augustana went on a 5-0 run to take an 18-13 lead. But once again SMSU matched the Vikings run with a 4-0 run of their own to make it 18-17 Augustana. The Mustangs did get to within one point at 22-21, but Augustana scored the final three points of the match to take set one 25-21.

The second set was one for the ages as neither team gave an inch at any point during the set. The largest lead of the second set was two, but for the majority of the match the two teams were within a point of each other. In the set there was a total of 14 ties and six lead changes. SMSU though got the final point of the set, to win it 25-23.  

The third set was one to remember for Augustana. With the score tied at two Bailey Koch came up to serve and went on a roll that you don't get to see everyday. After a kill by Courtney Place , Koch earned back-to-to aces to make it 5-2 Vikings. Following a timeout by SMSU and a kill by Lauren Waite and an attack error by the Mustangs, Koch again picked up back-to-back aces to make it 9-2 Augustana. The Vikings made quick work of the Mustangs in the set, earning a 25-16 set win.

The fourth and fifth sets didn't go the way Augustana wanted. SMSU got hot early in the fourth jumping out to an 11-4 lead. The Vikings didn't quit after being down 10 at 23-13, scoring four of the last six points before dropping the set 25-17. In the final set SMSU again jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead. The Vikings again made a run making it 8-4, but couldn't overcome the Mustangs as they fell 15-9.

Viking of the Match
Lauren Waite played great for the second straight match for Augustana. After a team high 17 kills yesterday, she set a new career-high with 22 kills. She had a hitting percentage of .356 and added five digs to her night.

Viking Notables
• Waite set a career-high with 22 kills
• Koch tied a career-high with five aces
• Three Vikings earned double-digit kills: Waite (22), Place (16), Brittany Cech (10)
• Cech earned a double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs. She had a double-double in both NCAA Tournament matches
• Anna Sykora had 54 assists
• As a team the Vikings had 10 service aces. It was the second time this season that they had 10 aces in one match
• Tahlyr Banks had a match-high 29 digs