ABERDEEN, S.D. — The Augustana volleyball team swept day one of the Northern State Volleyball Classic in Aberdeen, South Dakota, on Friday with wins over MSU Moorhead (3-1) and New Mexico Highlands (3-0).
MSU Moorhead: W, 3-1
Augustana dropped the first set, 26-24, but reeled off three-straight set victories to claim the match 3-1.
In spite of a 5-0 lead to start in the first set, the Vikings found themselves in a back-and-forth battle with the Dragons for the remainder of the set.
Augustana's held a 17-15 lead coming off an attack error from the Dragons. From that point, MSU Moorhead would gain control of the game holding match point against the Vikings at 24-21.
The Vikings would attempt a rally, scoring three points to tie the game at 24-all with kills by Jolie Stecher and Maddy Guetter. However, the Dragons would score the next two points to claim the first set.
The second set was even-keeled to start with the teams at 9-all.
Augustana would find some breathing room, scoring on four of the next six points with Callie Hohenhaus accumulating two kills in that time to give the Vikings a 14-11 nod.
The Vikings extended their lead with a kill by Payton Rosendahl to increase the lead to four at 18-14.
Similar to the Vikings' play at the end of the first set, the Dragons attempted a comeback when Augustana hit match point, but after two points from MSU Moorhead, Augustana prevailed and claimed set two 25-22.
The third and fourth sets proved to be too much for the Dragons as the Vikings poured 30 kills to the Dragons 13 to claim both sets in 25-17 fashion and to win the match at 3-1.
The Vikings flexed in the latter half of the third set, scoring five of the final eight points with kills from Thorson, Guetter and Stecher with the deciding point coming off an attack error by the Dragons to give Augustana a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth set.
The Dragons started the fourth set with authority, claiming a 4-0 advantage. However, the Vikings showed life in the middle portion of the set with a six-point run and an incredible stat line. Augustana had two kills by Reimann, and additional kills from Rosendahl and Stecher, capped off with a service ace from Guetter to give AU a 5 point lead at 15-10.
The Dragons had a three-point run late in the fourth set but ran out of real estate as a final blow from Guetter gave the Vikings the fourth set 25-17.
Augustana was led by Guetter with 19 kills and Thorson with 51 assists, and Bute garnered 26 digs.
The Dragons were led by Bridget Witzmann with 11 kills and Halle Erickson with 19 assists.
New Mexico Highlands: W, 3-0
Augustana got out to an early lead and never looked back in the first set.
The Vikings rolled off four kills in the first 11 points while two attack errors by the Cowgirls caused New Mexico Highlands to take a timeout with Augustana up 11-5. Two of the kills came from Hohenhaus, with additional kills from Thorson and Reimann.
Augustana's kills continued to pour on with three coming in a four-point run coming by Rosendahl, Hohenhaus and Haberland, to give AU a 20-9 advantage.
Hohenhaus and Thorson garnered kills late in the set before Reimann accumulated the finishing blows to claim set one with back-to-back kills, 25-14.
The Cowgirls were able to hang with the Vikings in the early portion of the second set, having a one-point lead at 11-10.
Augustana then went on a four-point run started with a kill from Rosendahl while Haberland tallied two-straight. The scoring was capped by a bad set by New Mexico Highlands to give AU a 15-11 advantage.
With the Vikings up five at 18-13, the Cowgirls made a run and surpassed the Vikings by scoring seven-straight.
Augustana found itself down 22-20 before kills from Reimann and Thorson and two attack errors by the Cowgirls flipped the score back in favor of the Vikings, ultimately deciding the second set at 25-23.
The Cowgirls seemingly used all their momentum in the second set, as the Vikings opened the third set scoring five-straight after New Mexico Highlands claimed the first point.
The five points came from four Vikings' kills and an ace, all coming
Augustana began running downhill after a bad set from New Mexico Highlands and captured an 18-11 lead.
From that point, the Vikings scored seven of the next nine points, highlighted by kills from Piper Asche and Thorson to claim the match at 25-13.
Augustana was led by Haberland with nine kills, Thorson accounted for 27 assists, and Reimann led the Vikings with 13 digs.
The Cowgirls were led by Stacy Johnson and Keegan Lopez both accounting for seven kills, Soliel Gandara had 21 assists and Lisi Langi led New Mexico Highlands with 12 digs.
Up Next
The Vikings return to the Northern State Classic Saturday, the first match is slated for 11:30 a.m. against South Dakota Mines, Augustana will cap off the tournament facing the host, No. 19 Northern State at 2 p.m.
—GoAugie.com—
