SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana dominated on the attack—led by a career-best performance from Maya Wente—en route to a 25-16, 25-11, 22-25, 25-19 defeat of Minot State on Friday night.
 
The Vikings improve to 11-14 overall with a 7-8 conference showing as the Beavers drop to 2-23 overall and 0-16 in NSIC play.
 
Wente slammed down a whopping 21 kills off a sizzling .528 hitting percentage to achieve a new career-high and lead the front row attack. Lucy Belisle and Reagan Jansen each added in nine kills apiece.
 
Lucy Bartee dished out 45 assists with 11 digs and three aces as Sydney Tims served out four service aces and Jolie Stecher chipped in three. On defense, Jansen collected 15 digs and Gabby Jones added in 10 as Wente logged nine total blocks, including two solo.
 
Augustana held the advantage statistically with 53 total kills in addition to 66 digs, 50 assists, 15 service aces and 10 total blocks.
 
The Vikings scored the first four points of set one but the Beavers responded with four of their own. A 5-1 run—featuring two service aces—on top of a later three straight kills from AU made it a 12-7 game. That quickly exploded after a sizzling 7-0 run pushed the lead to 23-14. Wente would score the final two points of the set for the home team, closing it 25-16.
 
After falling behind by two early, Augustana slammed back with six straight points to take the 8-4 lead. Another 8-1 run—highlighted by four kills from Wente—pushed the difference to ten. Minot State rattled off four straight to close in at 18-11, but the Vikings went full-throttle and claimed the last seven straight points of the set. With three aces from Bartee and a kill from Mya Vandrovec, the set ended 25-11.
 
Minot State burst out the gate and kicked off set three with a 10-2 run. Augustana then rattled off its own 9-2 run with kills from Wente, Belisle, Stecher and Brooke Berens to close in at 13-11. Back-and-forth action ensued until it tied up at 17, but the Beavers would score five straight to take control late in the set. Despite a gritty 4-1 run from the Vikings, the visitors would take set three 25-22.
 
Early back-and-forth off of an exchange of errors put the score at 9-8 in favor of the home team. It was a 7-2 run—featuring four kills and two service aces—that put the Vikings up by five until another three points made it 21-14 off of yet another kill from Wente. The Beavers rattled off a 5-1 run to close in at 22-19, but Augustana would score the final three and end the night at 25-19.
 
Looking Ahead
Augustana will return to the Elmen Center for Saturday afternoon action as it faces University of Mary at 11 a.m. for Senior Day.