SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — In a Tuesday night conference thriller, Augustana rallied back from two sets down to defeat Sioux Falls 20-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-10 inside the Stewart Center.
Lucy Belisle led the Vikings with 16 kills—a new season-high—while hitting .419 and adding four block assists.
Kiylah Franke finished with 47 assists and 14 digs as
Reagan Jansen recorded 12 kills, three service aces, nine digs and four total blocks.
Maya Wente added 11 kills on a .304 hitting percentage and had a team-high five total blocks.
As a team, the Vikings collected 10 service aces compared to the Cougars' four while tallying 63 total kills, 63 assists, 67 digs and nine blocks.
Augustana opened the first set by taking a 7-2 lead, getting kills from
Abby Gruber,
Sydney Tims and Belisle along with a Jansen service ace. USF cut the gap to 8-7 and later pulled even at 10-10, but AU moved back in front with kills from Jansen, Gruber and Belisle during the next stretch. The set stayed tight through 17-17 before the Cougars scored five straight points to move ahead 22-17. Late kills came in from Jansen, Gruber and Belisle, but Sioux Falls closed the set 25-20.
The second set was tied repeatedly early, and Augustana was within 6-5 before the Cougars scored nine straight points to move ahead 15-5. The visiting team answered with seven consecutive points, starting with a Gruber kill and continuing with two Tims kills, a Jansen block and another Gruber kill as the margin closed to 15-12. USF pushed the spread back to 21-16, but Wente put down a kill,
Alexis Nelson served an ace, and AU tied the set at 21-21 on three Cougars attack errors, including a block by Wente and Jansen. Despite the effort, USF took the final four points to close the set 25-21.
After an early 2-2 tie in the third, Augustana scored four straight points behind a Wente-Tims block, a Gruber service ace and a Tims kill to move ahead 6-2. USF worked back to 8-8, and the set stayed tight through the middle, with the teams trading ties until Wente's kill and consecutive Nelson aces gave AU a 16-14 edge. The Cougars pulled even again at 17-17 and 18-18, but a block by Gruber and Jansen started a five-point Augustana push that included a Jansen ace and moved the visitors in front 23-18. After USF got one point back, Belisle's kill brought set point, and a Cougars attack error closed the set for AU, 25-19.
USF built an early 5-2 lead, but Augustana worked back with kills from Tims and Belisle before
Julia Blom's service ace tied the fourth set at 7-7. Just like in the previous three sets, the match remained tight at 13-13, with Jansen giving the Vikings brief leads at 14-13, 15-14 and 16-15 before the Cougars moved back in front 17-16. AU answered with a Tims kill to tie it, a Jansen ace for an 18-17 edge, and later moved ahead 20-18 on a Nelson kill and a USD attack error. Sioux Falls soon pulled even at 21-21, but Wente,
Lucy Cogan and Jansen delivered consecutive kills to reach set point before Jansen added the final kill a 25-22 set win.
With the decisive fifth set in full swing, competition stayed even through the early exchanges. Gruber, Belisle, Wente and Blom recorded early kills for AU as the scored reached 6-6. Soon, a USF service error put Augustana ahead 7-6, and a pair of Gruber kills plus a Cougars attack error moved the score to 10-7. Belisle's ensuing kill put AU at 12-8, and a Vikings' ace from Gruber followed for a 13-8 lead. USF got consecutive kills to reach 13-10 but Wente answered with a shot of her own just before AU closed the set 15-10 on a block by Wente and Belisle to secure the conference rivalry victory.
UP NEXT
The Vikings volleyball team continues its stretch away from home court as it visits Jamestown on Friday, Oct. 2, at 6 p.m.
--GoAugie.com--
