BEMIDJI, Minn. -- The Augustana volleyball team secured its seventh sweep of the season with a 25-20, 25-23, 25-14 win over Bemidji State on Friday night in Bemidji, Minnesota. 

The Vikings got off to a hot start early on taking an 8-3 lead after back-to-back kills by Abby Benson and Avery Thorson to force a timeout for the Beavers. After the Beavers' second timeout with the score at 15-10, Bemidji State fought back to tie things up at 15 all to force Augustana to call a timeout of its own. 

The Vikings closed the first set on a 9-3 run, capped by a solo block from Maddy Guetter to secure the 25-20 set victory. 

In the second frame, the Vikings got off to another hot start leading 7-3 before the Beavers yet again fought back to make things interesting at 14-14. This time BSU didn't let up at the end and tied things up once again at 21-21. The Vikings earned set point off a kill from Payton Rosendahl but would give up a kill from Julie Touchett to make the score 24-23 until Grace Haberland sealed the deal with a hammer to earn the 25-23 set two victory. 

The third stanza was nothing like the first two sets as Augustana took control early and never looked back. After jumping out to an 11-2 lead, the Vikings gave up five straight points to make the score 11-7. Head coach Jennifer Jacobs called a timeout to calm the Beaver storm, which worked out to the Vikings favor as they would go on a 9-2 run to take a commanding 21-10 lead late. Kills from Haberland and Benson gave the Vikings the 3-0 sweep of Bemidji State. 

Benson led the charge for the Vikings with nine kills while Haberland and Rosendahl both finished with seven kills. Thorson had a match-high 20 assists on the night while Erika Bute finished with 15 digs. Izzy Sommers and Rosendahl lead the way in the front with three blocks apiece. 

As a team, the Vikings totaled 39 kills, 36 assists and four service aces. Defensively, Augustana had six blocks and 56 digs. 

Quotable

"I am happy the team came away with a win today," Jacobs said. "Any win on the road in this conference is a big deal so I'm proud of them!"

Up Next
The Vikings finish up their road trip up north with a matchup at Minnesota Crookston at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Crookston, Minnesota.