SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana volleyball team took down the Warriors of Winona State in a five set thriller (17-25, 25-19, 20-25, 30-28, 15-9) in the Elmen Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Vikings are now 18-8 on the season and are 10-8 in NSIC play. The Warriors move to a 12-12 record and are 8-9 in the loop.
The opening set was powered through by the Warrior offense. Winona State completed 16 of their total 25 attacks to hold a .600 attack percentage over the Vikings .161. An early 5-0 run by the Warriors pulled them ahead with the lead but the Vikings crawled back within four. A final 5-0 run sealed the deal in set one for Winona State finished by a Warrior kill.
The Vikings came out swinging in the second set hammering down 17 kills over the Warriors 12. Seniors Maddy Guetter and Kate Reimann each took hold of five kills to lead the Augustana offense. The set opened by a back and forth scoring brawl until senior Kia Kriener threw down a kill to ignite momentum in the Vikings to go on an early 5-0 run. Augustana held off the Warriors, never letting them within three points. A final kill from senior Piper Asche brought the Vikings their first set win of the day.
Kriener kept her momentum rolling into the third set, opening the set with a monster kill off the right side. Winona State responded with two back-to-back on their own until Guetter rained another down for the Vikings. Both sides of the net would continue to trade points until Winona State went on a late 7-0 run pulling away with the lead. A final Warrior kill would send Winona State home with their final set win of the afternoon.
Set four was a brawl to the end. A set opened by multiple Warrior attack errors led AU to an early 3-0 lead. Guetter led both sides of the net in set four with eight kills to tally her total 24 on the day. The set consisted of six tied scores and two lead changes to keep both sides of the net on top of one another. After multiple traded set points a final setting error from the Warriors delivered a second set win to the Vikings.
The fifth, and final, set was all Vikings. Augustana opened with an early 5-1 run to lead to an early Warrior timeout. The Warriors would crawl within four but the Vikings would respond with kills by Guetter and Kriener to keep the edge. A final Warrior attack error would secure a third set win for Augustana.
Overall, the Vikings were led by Guetter with 24 kills, 27 points, two aces, and two blocks. Following Guetter was Kriener with 16 kills, 18 points, and four blocks. Senior setter Avery Thorson put up 62 assists in today's match while also adding two kills to aid the Vikings offense.
On the defensive side, senior libero Erika Bute picked up 25 digs with a perfect 1.000 reception of 23. Sophomore Jolie Stecher led the Vikings with five blocks and four aces to tally 9.5 points.
Up Next
The Vikings travel to Minnesota to take on No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul on Friday and Minnesota State on Saturday. Friday night's serve will be at 6 p.m., while Saturday afternoon's match will begin at 2 p.m..
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