SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Augustana Vikings scratched and clawed through five sets, dropping a heartbreaker, 25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 28-30, 15-10, to the University of Sioux Falls on Tuesday night inside the Elmen Center. 

The Vikings shift to 9-15 overall and 6-9 in conference play, while the Cougars jump to 12-12 and 8-7. 

Piper Asche and Kia Kriener tied for the team-lead with 15 kills apiece. Asche added six blocks, while Kriener tallied 16 digs. Callie Hohenhaus collected a career-high nine blocks and added 11 kills. 

With Hohenhaus on the front line was Maya Wente, whose eight kills and five blocks provided a steady balance. Four Vikings reached double figures in digs, with Erika Bute (17), Kiylah Franke (13), and Lucy Bartee (12) joining Kriener. Bartee paced the offense with 49 assists. 

The Vikings opened the match with the first four points, capped by a Reagan Jansen ace. USF clawed back to tie the match at 11-11, but a 9-2 AU run, with three Hohenhaus blocks leading the charge, handed them a 20-13 lead. The lead would stay at seven at 23-16, but the Cougars raced to a 9-0 run to close the set at 1-0. 

After USF took set two, the Vikings flexed their grit in set three. Kriener and Wente opened with a kill each, and each tallied another in the early stages to take a 4-3 lead. USF wouldn't let the Vikings pull away, tying the match at 9-9 and 12-12, but a 4-1 run with two Asche kills, a Hohenhaus kill, and Bartee kill put AU in front 16-13. 

Again, the Cougars fought back, scoring six of seven points to take a 19-17 lead. A 3-0 run, capped by a Sydney Tims, put the Vikings back in front 20-19. The Cougars countered with a pair of points, but a Bartee and Wente block opened a 4-1 run to give AU a set point at 24-22. After a USF kill, Kriener dissected the Cougar defense to breathe life into the Vikings and get them within 2-1. 

The urgency of AU showed to open set four, as they scored eight of the first 11 points, with a Hohenhaus block following a pair of Asche kills to take an 8-3 lead. The lead lingered to 20-14 before the Cougars inched within four at 21-17. 

A pair of AU points pushed them back ahead by six, but a 6-0 USF flurry evened the set at 23-23. USF would reach three set points on the way to a 28-27 lead, but an Asche kill, Jansen kill, and Cougar error closed the fourth set and forced a fifth. 

After the Vikings evened the fifth set at 3-3, USF scored four consecutive points before holding an 8-5 as the teams switched benches. The Vikings hung around to 11-8, but a 4-2 close from the Cougars closed the set and the match. 

The Vikings head back on the road this weekend, starting with a Friday night match at Bemidji State, with first serve slated for 6 p.m.