ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Augustana volleyball team fell to the No. 3 Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul in St. Paul Minn. in four sets (25-17, 25-20. 24-26, 25-17) on Friday night.
The Vikings move to an overall 18-9 record and are now 10-9 in NSIC play. The Golden Bears advance to a 24-3 record on the season and are 17-2 in the loop.
The opening set began with a back and forth scoring brawl between the Golden Bears and the Vikings. Augustana capitalized on early attack errors by the Golden Bears to pull ahead to a 5-2 lead. The Golden Bears crawled back catching up with the Vikings to tie the score at 11. The Golden Bears would then gain momentum to pull ahead with an 8-2 run securing the lead and taking the first set.
Set two was opened in a similar fashion as the first, opened by a back and forth trade of points. Augustana wedged a gap to pull away with a lead after a tied score of five. A pair of aces by seniors Kate Reimann and Erika Bute bridged the gap as big as four pulling ahead quickly. The Golden Bears stayed at the Vikings heels to bring them to a tie at 17. The Golden Bears took off with a late 5-0 run to gain the lead. Kills by Reimann and senior Callie Hohenhaus kept the Vikings within inches until the Golden Bears took set two following two rallied kills.
The Vikings cruised into set three opening with a 7-4 lead taking advantage of the service line as well as Golden Bear attack errors. The Golden Bears crawled within two but the Vikings pulled ahead with a 5-2 run bridging a gap as large as five. Back-to-back kills by senior Maddy Guetter broke up a Golden Bear run to keep the Vikings ahead late. In its final points of set three the Golden Bears went on a late 3-0 run to tie the set at 22. The Vikings responded with a rallied 4-1 run and a final kill by Hohenhaus to take AU's only set win of the match.
Hohenhaus kept her momentum going into the fourth set hammering down the first point for the Vikings. The Golden Bears were firing on all cylinders going on an early 6-2 run pulling ahead with an early lead. Following an AU timeout, the Vikings powered down three kills catching up within three of the Golden Bears. After a few rallied points, the Golden Bears pulled away with a late 8-0 run to take their final lead followed by a 4-0 run by the Vikings. A final Golden Bear kill secured Concordia-St. Paul's third and final set win of the night.
Overall, the Vikings were led by Guetter with 15 kills and 16.5 points. Senior KIa Kriner was right behind hammering down 13 kills and totalling 14.5 points. Kriener proved her versatility by leading AU in total digs with 19, achieving a career high. Senior setter Avery Thorson put up 46 assists and one block in tonight's match. Five Vikings delivered an ace apiece tonight through Reimann, Guetter, Kriener and Bute, while Thorson completed her 100th career ace as a Viking.
Up Next
The Vikings take on the Mavericks of Minnesota State Saturday at 2 p.m. in Mankato, Minn.
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