SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Augustana volleyball team took down its second top-15 team inside the Elmen Center this season with a thrilling five-set victory over No. 12 Wayne State on Halloween night. 

Sitting at ninth place in the conference, the Vikings (15-8, 8-6 NSIC) were looking to set themselves up for a spot in the NSIC Tournament in November. With the win against the Wildcats, Augustana moves one step closer to that goal.



The Wildcats (18-5, 9-5 NSIC) used a hot start and a couple of key runs throughout the set to take a 25-13 set one victory. 

After the one-sided first set, the second set was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams that included 10 lead changes and 10 ties throughout. With the score 12-10 Wayne State, the Vikings fought back and made a 4-0 run to take a 14-12 lead. 

After several 2-0 runs by both teams, the score stood at 21-17 in favor of the Vikings but a 4-1 run by Wayne State made things interesting at 22-21 Vikings. Augustana answered back with a 3-0 run to take the second set and tie things up at one set apiece. 

Just like the second set, both teams would trade points back-and-forth in the third set and once again Wayne State held a 12-10 lead before Augustana would answer with a 3-0 lead to take the lead, 13-12. The Vikings opened things up with a huge 7-1 run to make the score 21-16 before taking the third set 25-19 to take the two sets to one lead. 

After dropping the last two sets, the Wildcats made sure they didn't lose the fourth as they jumped out to a 6-1 and 12-6 lead early on. With the score 17-10, the Wildcats finished on an 8-1 run to tie things up and force a fifth and final set. 

The fifth set was by far the most competitive set of the match as neither team wanted to give momentum to the other side. In the fifth set, there were seven lead changes and seven ties. 

One of Kate Reimann's team-high 17 kills gave Augustana the 5-3 lead before Wayne State would answer back to tie things up and take the 6-5 lead on a 3-0 run that forced a Viking timeout. Augustana found some bounce to its step out of the timeout, going on a 3-0 run to take the 8-6 lead which then forced a timeout from Wayne State. 

The final moments of the fifth featured a series of runs and timeouts by both teams, as the Wildcats would come out swinging out of the timeout they called to take the 11-10 lead on a 5-2 run which then prompted a timeout from Augustana. Whatever head coach Jennifer Jacobs told them in the huddle had them fired up as the Vikings claim the win after a 5-0 run capped off by back-to-back hammers from Reimann. 

Individually, Reimann showed out with a season-high 17 kills on a .273 hitting percentage. Grace Haberland recorded her sixth double-double of the season after recording 10 kills and 14 digs. Payton Rosendahl finished with nine kills while Avery Thorson finished with a team-high 45 assists, seven kills and 13 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. 

Defensively, Erika Bute had a team-high 24 digs while Sophia Terwilleger had 23 digs. Abby Benson and Izzy Sommers finished with four blocks apiece. 

As a team, the Vikings finished with 60 kills, 56 assists and three aces. Defensively, Augustana had 95 digs and eight blocks. 

Quotable
"I am very proud of the team tonight, we showed grit and determination right through the end," Jacobs said. "That was a big win for this season and for the program overall."

Up Next
The Vikings hit the road to take on No. 15 Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Marshall, Minnesota.