SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Augustana volleyball made it a clean weekend at home as it won its second match in 24 hours with a 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 25-12 victory over UMary in a Saturday matinee at the Elmen Center.
Jazmen Kutey posted nine kills on 15 attacks while hitting .600 and added a season-high seven total blocks.
Reagan Jansen finished with 12 kills—a feat she's reached in the last five games—alongside 10 digs while
Lucy Belisle eclipsed at least 10 kills for a second straight time.
Kiylah Franke recorded 26 assists and four digs in the afternoon affair as
Abby Gruber added six kills, two service aces and three total blocks.
The Vikings hit .266 with 53 kills and 10 blocks while holding UMary to a .067 hitting percentage with 39 kills. Augustana led in blocks (10-4), assists (48-36) and digs (51-46) while remaining narrowly behind in aces (5-4).
After UMary moved ahead 2-1 in the opening set, AU scored the next five points, using a Gruber service ace, UMary attack errors and a
Sydney Tims kill from Franke to go in front 6-2. The Marauders worked back within 8-6, but kills from Opland and Jansen helped Augustana keep the lead before back-to-back Tims kills pushed the margin to 16-10. The Vikings later turned a 16-11 lead into a 23-12 advantage, with Belisle, Kutey and
Shelby Barwick providing kills during the stretch and
Clara Hoegh adding a service ace. UMary answered with five straight points to cut it to 23-17, but Kutey put down two of the final three AU points to close the set 25-18.
The visitors scored the first three points of the second set and later held a 13-10 lead before Augustana began to close the gap. After UMary moved ahead 14-11, Tims put down a kill, Opland and Kutey combined on consecutive blocks and Kutey added another block to give the Vikings a 15-14 lead. The Marauders answered with a kill and a service ace, and the teams continued trading points until Jansen and Belisle recorded back-to-back kills to tie the set at 21-21. UMary scored the next three points to reach set point at 24-22 and—after a service error brought AU within 24-23—closed the set for a 25-23 finish.
Augustana bounced back by building a 6-2 lead in the third set during
Clara Hoegh's serve, with Kutey and Opland teaming on a block and UMary committing two more errors. The Marauders worked back from a 14-10 deficit to help tie the set at 15-15, and the teams traded points until a visitor kill evened it at 18-18 and again at 19-19. Gruber put the Vikings back in front with a kill before serving the final five points as Kutey recorded three straight kills before a UMary attack error and
Lucy Belisle's kill closed the set 25-19.
After UMary moved ahead 2-1, AU answered with kills from Belisle, Jansen and Tims to move in front 5-2, and Belisle added another kill for a 6-3 edge. The set was at 10-7 when Augustana scored six straight points, using kills by Gruber, Belisle and Tims along with three Marauder errors to stretch the lead to 16-7. UMary briefly stopped the run, but Belisle put down two more kills as the Vikings reached 18-8, and AU later got kills from Kutey and Leach plus a
Julia Blom ace before closing the set on two Mary attack errors for a 25-12 win.
UP NEXT
Augustana's homestand continues into next weekend when the Vikings return to the Elmen Center to host Minnesota Duluth on Friday, Oct. 16, at 5 p.m.
--GoAugie.com--
