SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- After a thrilling four set victory on the road over No. 9 Northern State in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament, the No. 16 Augustana volleyball team looks to ride that momentum into their semifinal match with No. 4 Southwest Minnesota State Saturday afternoon. The sixth-seeded Vikings and the second-seeded Mustangs will battle it out on Saturday, Nov. 18 at noon at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minn.  with the winner advancing to the conference championship match.

Augustana (23-8, 13-7 NSIC) is riding a five match win-streak, two of those wins coming against top-10 teams in No. 6 Minnesota Duluth and Northern last Wednesday night.

In the match vs. the Wolves, Lauren Waite (19), Ashley Wilson (14) and Courtney Place (13) had double-digit kills for the Vikings, while Tahlyr Banks (22), Hanna Justesen (18), Kaylea Ahrens (13) and Place (11) added double-digit digs.

Place continues to lead Augustana in kills with 424 on the season while Wilson leads her team with a .336 hitting percentage. Senior Alex Banker has popped up a team-high 11.57 assists per set while Bailey Koch leads the team with 109 total blocks.

Augustana's defense has been improving all season long and has shined throughout the last week. The Vikings allowed Duluth to hit just .112, St. Cloud State .090 and Northern State .121. Banks, Augustana's all-time digs leader and back-to-back NSIC Libero of the Year has been the backbone of the Vikings defense with 602 digs on the season.

Southwest Minnesota State (26-3, 17-3 NSIC) closed the regular season with a 2-2 record, defeating both Sioux Falls and St. Cloud State in four matches while falling to both Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota Duluth. In the first round of the NSIC Tournament, the Mustangs defeated the No. 7 seed Upper Iowa, 3-1.

SMSU's Taylor Reiss, who was named the conference's offensive player of the year for the second straight season, has racked up 512 kills this year, including an NSIC Tournament record 31 kills in the win over Upper Iowa Wednesday night. Megan Larson is the Mustangs all-time leader in assists and currently has 1,294.

The all-time series record between Augustana and Southwest Minnesota State is tied at 31-31-1. These two squads meet up for the conference opener, with the Mustangs taking the match in a five-set thriller.