TAMPA, Fla. -- The Augustana volleyball team completed the final day of the Tampa Volleyball Classic in Tampa, Florida, with two wins on Saturday. The Vikings defeated Ashland in the morning match winning 3-1 and bested Illinois Springfield in the afternoon match also in 3-1 fashion.

The Vikings come out of the tournament with an overall record of 2-2.

"Overall, it was a good tournament with some great teams," head coach Jennifer Jacobs said. "We saw some great, top-level, nationally ranked competition and it definitely is getting us ready for our next weekend.

"We learned some things about ourselves this weekend and are looking forward to the next one."

Ashland: W, 3-1

Despite being at a stalemate for the first half of the set at 11-11, the Eagles found two big surges to pass the Vikings. A four-point run followed by three unanswered points with only one Viking point between proved to be too much for Augustana in set one as Ashland took set one 25-20.

The Vikings were awoken to start the second set, opening up a 3-0 lead, complimented by a Maddy Guetter kill and service ace put between a bad set by Ashland's Zoey Peck. Augustana's lead would grow to six before forcing the Eagles to take a timeout at 9-3. 

Ashland clawed its way back into the set tying the score for the first time in the set at 20-20.

The final tie of the set would come at 24-24 before the Vikings capitalized on the Eagles errors to take the second set in 26-24 fashion.

After being tied at 12-12 halfway through the third set, Augustana began to be too much for Ashland. The Vikings scored four unanswered points coming from two kills, one by sophomore Callie Hohenhaus and the next from Thorson. Then senior Grace Haberland had a service ace and the final point of the run came off an attack error by Ashland's Erin Krupar.

The Vikings opened the valve for the last time in the third set, scoring five-straight points to bring the Vikings to match point off a kill from junior Kia Kriener before an Ashland attack error awarded the Vikings the third set victory 25-16.

The fourth set was very similar to the former. Once again halfway through the set, at 11-10, with Augustana leading, the Vikings would score five-straight points on kills from four different Vikings with Kriener scoring two in the run.

Seven of the remaining eight points coming from the Vikings would come off of kills to win the fourth set 25-15 and claim the match.

Junior Kate Reimann led the Vikings with 12 kills and Thorson had 38 assists.

The Eagles were led by Krupar with 16 kills and Peck had 28 assists. 

Illinois Springfield: W, 3-1

Halfway through the first set, the Vikings had a five-point cushion at 15-10. From there the Prairie Stars showed life and were able to tie the game. The score was knotted at 22-22 before the Vikings scored on three of the last four points with Reimann delivering the final blow to give Augustana the first set at 25-23.

The second set proved to be a stalemate with no team gaining a considerable lead until the Prairie Stars broke free and the set went from a 12-12 standoff to a 16-12 lead.

The Vikings rallied back and came within two points off a kill by Reimann at 22-20 but the Prairie Stars prevailed with a 3-0 run to claim set two 25-22.

The remaining two sets allowed neither team room for error with both sets being decided by three points or less.

After a long battle in the third set, the Vikings answered a 3-0 run by Illinois Springfield with a run of their own to have a lead at 22-21 complimented by a kill from Reimann.

After the Prairie Stars scored off a kill by Emily Cole, Hohenhaus delivered the final shot to give Augustana a 2-1 lead in the series. 

The fourth set had a similar outcome, although this time the Prairie Stars found themselves with a one-point lead at 22-21. 

The two teams battled to 23-all before a kill by Haberland put the Vikings in the driver's set at match point. An attack error by Illinois Springfield gave the Vikings the nod to sweep the day. 

Reimann led the Vikings with 18 kills and Thorson led with 52 assists. Rosendahl tallied 10 kills and a .474 attack percentage. 

The Prairie Stars were led by Hannah Nicolaisen with 10 kills and Becca Blakeley accounted for 22 assists.

Up Next

The Vikings return to competition on Friday with the first of two days in the Northern State Volleyball Classic in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The first match of the classic is a nonconference showdown with MSU Moorhead before finishing the day off with New Mexico Highlands. On Saturday, AU faces South Dakota Mines and host Northern State. 

--GoAugie.com--