WAYNE, Neb. – After making the postseason NSIC Volleyball Tournament for the first time since 2022, the Augustana volleyball team saw its season come to a close in the quarterfinals after a four-set loss to Wayne State, 12-25, 18-25, 25-20, 14-25, on Tuesday night.
In their first season under first-year head coach
Erika Bute, the No. 8 seed Vikings conclude 2026 with an 18-11 overall record with a 12-8 conference showing while the No. 1 Wildcats advance to the semifinals with records of 29-2 and 19-1.
Reagan Jansen led Augustana with 15 kills while adding 11 digs, two blocks and an ace.
Kiylah Franke recorded 35 assists and nine digs as
Gabby Jones collected a team-high 13 digs and added a service ace and
Jazmen Kutey hit .417 with six kills and a team-high four blocks.
As a team, the Vikings led in blocks (6-3) while trailing in kills (52-44), aces (13-6), assists (48-42) and digs (63-56).
Wayne State scored the first three points of the opening set before AU got kills from
Abby Gruber and Jansen to stay within 5-2. Jansen added another kill and
Maya Wente followed with one from Franke to cut the margin to 8-5, but the Wildcats answered with a six-point stretch for a 15-6 lead. The Vikings later got a Jansen kill, a
Sydney Tims kill, a
Julia Blom ace and another Wente kill, trimming the score to 21-12. WSC closed the set with four straight points, ending it for a 25-12 finish.
In the second set, WSC scored the first three points before AU worked back behind kills from Kutey, Wente, Jansen and
Lucy Belisle, tying it at 8-8 on an
Alexis Nelson service ace. The teams traded points through the middle of the set, and Augustana moved in front 11-10 on a Franke kill before the Wildcats answered to level the score and later went ahead 16-13. The Vikings pulled within 16-15, but WSC followed with five straight points to build a 21-15 lead. Kills by Belisle, Jansen and Tims kept AU scoring late, but the Wildcats closed the set with a 25-18 win.
Wayne State opened the third set with three points, but Augustana answered with seven straight, getting kills from
Kelby Opland and Wente, a
Lucy Cogan service ace and two WSC attack errors to move in front 7-3. The Vikings kept the lead through the middle of the set, with Jansen, Belisle, Wente and Opland supplying kills as AU built advantages of 14-10 and 17-11. Blom's ace pushed the margin to 19-13, and after WSC got back within 20-16, Wente's kill, a Jones ace and a block by Kutey and Belisle helped the Vikings reach 23-16. The Wildcats scored four of the next five points, but Belisle ended the rally and finished the set with a kill from Franke for a 25-20 Augustana win.
AU started the fourth set with six straight points on Nelson's serve, getting kills from Kutey and Jansen and a block by Jansen and Kutey on the way to a 6-0 lead. WSC answered with four straight points to get to 6-4, but Augustana moved back ahead 9-4 after kills by Wente and Jansen. The Wildcats took over from there with 12 consecutive points to move in front 16-9. The Vikings got back-to-back points only once more, on a Wente kill and Jansen ace to make it 17-12, before Wayne State closed the set with the final five points for a 25-14 finish.
--GoAugie.com--
