SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana volleyball pulled out all the stops, dominating from the service line and front row, en route to sweeping the University of Sioux Falls (25-21, 25-17, 25-15) for the first time since 2019 in front of an energetic Elmen Center on Saturday night.
 
The Vikings are now 10-10 on the season with a 6-5 conference showing while the Cougars drop to 12-7 overall and 7-4 in NSIC play.
 
In her second-ever match for Augustana, Lucy Belisle led the attack in double figures with 10 kills. Reagan Jansen added in nine kills while Brooke Berens attacked at a hitting percentage of .462 for eight kills.
 
Lucy Bartee dished out 32 assists while Gabby Jones collected 10 digs and Sydney Tims totaled four blocks.
 
Dominance for the Vikings truly showed on the service line, as the home team tallied 13 service aces. Jansen finished with four aces as Tims and Avery Nelson each added three apiece. As a team, Augustana also held the advantage over its opponent in kills (44), digs (42), assists (40) and total blocks (six).
 
USF used a quick 3-0 run to take the 9-5 lead early in set one, but Augustana responded with a 5-1 run of its own to tie it up at 10. The Cougars again took the lead and continued to hold on to the advantage until it tied at 17-all off an ace from Jansen. Five straight points followed by the final three points of the set helped fight off any sort of comeback and end the set, 25-21.
 
The momentum carried over into set two, as the Vikings immediately took a lead they would never rescind and jumped out to a 6-2 lead of a kill from Maya Wente. Three straight points were soon followed by four straight points and a block from Belisle and Wente made it a 20-9 advantage. The Cougars rallied to make it a seven-point differential but an ace from Tims ended it 25-17.
 
Hot serving from Nelson helped open the third set to a quick 6-0 lead. And the Vikings never let up on the gas. Bartee and Wente teamed up on a block to push the lead to 10 and the kills continued to rack in to maintain the convincing advantage. But the final two points would be scored off of rockets from Wente and Belisle to make it 25-15 for the sweep.
 
Up Next
Augustana will host Winona State on Thursday, Oct. 24 with game time set for 6 p.m. inside the Elmen Center