NAMPA, I.D. – Viking volleyball fell in five sets to Northwest Nazarene (25-21, 25-18, 13-25, 21-25, 12-15) in the first day of action at the NNU Nighthawk Invitational on Thursday afternoon.
 
Maya Wente attacked at a clip of .424 with a career-high 18 kills in the contest as Reagan Jansen slammed down 14. Lucy Bartee dished out 48 assists with 13 digs while Gabby Jones added 19 digs.
 
The Vikings tallied 57 digs compared to the Nighthawks' 58 along with 71 digs and 11 blocks.
 
Set one started quickly for NNU as it jumped out to a 5-0 lead to open the match. Augustana soon cut it to a 9-8 difference before a Kiylah Franke kill eventually took the first lead of the day at 16-15. The Nighthawks and Vikings continued to trade ties and one-point advantages late in the set until four straight points from AU made it a 24-19 game, sealing the score at 25-21.
 
It was all Augustana to start the second set as the Vikings came out hot and swinging, bursting to a 13-1 lead after NNU scored the first point. But the Nighthawks immediately came clawing back, cutting the lead to 15-11. Another 5-0 run gave the Vikings an eight-point advantage and the Nighthawks again attempted to climb back, but key NNU errors ended the rally to give Augustana the set 25-18.
 
Northwest Nazarene started set three with a hot streak of its own, quickly pushing the score to 10-1. That momentum lasted throughout the set, with the lead eventually ballooning to 21-8. Augustana went on a small run in an attempt to close the gap, but the set would end 25-13 in favor of the Nighthawks.
 
The fourth set started strong again for NNU, beginning with an 11-6 lead. Augustana came back to make it a three-point game at 17-14, but the Nighthawks continued to push, forcing the lead back to five at 23-18. Back-to-back kills from Jansen made it 23-20, but a final NNU kill made it 25-21.
 
It was a tight start for the two teams in the fifth, tying three times early on. A 5-1 run made it a 7-4 lead for the Vikings but the Nighthawks hit back with a 6-2 run of their own and took the 12-10 lead. Augustana scored two more points to close in but NNU proved to be too much, sliding away with the 15-12 victory.
 
Augustana will return to competition tomorrow morning against Westminster at 10 a.m. and will be followed by a match against Biola at 5:30 p.m.