ABERDEEN, S.D. -- The Augustana Volleyball program started off NSIC play against the preseason favorite and No. 8 Northern State Wolves on Friday night at the Barnett Center in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The Vikings held their own against the top team in the conference but ultimately fell 3-1 (18-25, 28-26, 21-25, 20-25). 

The Vikings competed with Wolves throughout the first set and were tied 13-13 before NSU would go on a late run to take the first set 25-18. 

The second set was just as competitive as the first set with neither team being able to take full control. The Vikings took a 15-12 lead only for the Wolves to answer back to tie it up at 15 all. Freshman Maddy Guetter knocked one home to give Augustana the 24-23 lead but again the Wolves fought back to bring it to extras. 

After a Northern State kill that gave it the set point at 26-25, the Vikings scored the next three points on kills from Guetter, Abby Benson and Grace Haberland to take the second set 28-26.

In the third set, Augie came out firing on all cylinders grabbing an early 7-3 lead forcing an NSU timeout. A couple runs during the middle of the set made the score 13-9 and 15-10 to force another timeout from the Wolves. It was all Northern State from there on out as it would tie things up at 16-16 before taking the lead for good with a 25-21 third set win. 

The Vikings used a 5-0 run to counter the Wolves hot start to the fourth set to tie things up and take the lead after an ensuing 5-2 run by the Vikings to take the 14-10 lead. A service ace by Erika Bute made the score 18-14 and forced the Wolves head coach Brent Aldridge to call a timeout to try to slow things down. 

The tactic worked as Northern State scored the next five points out of the timeout to take the lead 19-18. The Wolves ended the set on a 6-2 run to come away with the set and the match. 

Guetter finished with a career-high 18 kills while sophomore Avery Thorson recorded 44 assists and eight digs. Benson also had a career night as she recorded a career-high nine blocks as well as six kills. Izzy Sommers finished with 11 kills and Bute finished with 17 digs. 

Overall as a team, the Vikings finished with 51 kills, 9 aces and 47 assists. Defensively, Augustana compiled 52 digs and had 11 blocks on the night. 

Quotable
"I think we played well tonight," head coach Jennifer Jacobs said. "I believe we can make some adjustments and play a little better in some areas of the ball. Overall, it was a good match and now we need to regroup for MSU Moorhead tomorrow afternoon."

Up Next
The Vikings will finish up the weekend when they travel to Moorhead, Minnesota, to take on MSU Moorhead Saturday at  2 p.m. 

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