SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Augustana volleyball team flexed for the fans inside the Elmen Center on Saturday afternoon, dropping Minnesota Crookston in three sets (25-23, 25-14, 25-18).
The Vikings are elevated to 8-5 on the season and 3-2 within the conference, while Minnesota Crookston falls to 1-9 and 0-5 with the NSIC.
During the match, senior Avery Thorson surpassed 2,500 career assists, moving her to No. 8 all-time for the Vikings, currently with 2,531 assists for her career.
Early in the first set, the Vikings found themselves down 11-6. From that point, Augustana would go on to score nine straight points.
The run started with a kill by junior Kate Reimann, with kills also coming from Callie Hohenhaus, Grace Haberland and Maddy Gutter, to switch the score to 15-11, in favor of the Vikings.
Hohenhaus would account for two of the Vikings' final five points, ultimately helping Augustana claim set one, 25-23.
The Vikings brought the momentum from the first set into the second, jumping out to a 6-0 lead off two service aces from Thorson, as well as two kills by freshman Jolie Stecher and an additional kill by Guetter.
After the Golden Eagles found a three-point run late in the second set (23-14), the Vikings put the set away coming off a kill by Reimann and a service ace by senior Kelsey Ruff to grant the Vikings the second set, 25-14.
The third set started similar to the second set, with the Vikings offensive clicking early to give AU a six-point lead, 8-2.
The Vikings opened up, scoring four straight with a kill by Payton Rosendahl and back-to-back kills by junior Kia Kriener to make it 17-8, Augustana.
The Golden Eagles would slowly get back into the set but ran out of steam down the stretch with Augustana scoring three of the last four points to claim the set and complete the sweep, 25-18.
The Vikings were led by Reimann with nine kills, Thorson accumulated 35 assists, and Bute raked in 19 digs.
The Golden Eagles were led by Bailey Schaefer with six kills, with Natalie Koke garnering 11 assists, Schaefer also led in digs with nine.
Up Next
The Vikings head back out on the road next week, first playing Minot State on Friday slated for a 6 p.m. start. Augustana then travels to Bismarck, North Dakota, Saturday to face UMary at 2 p.m.
--GoAugie.com--
