Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – After picking up a pair of straight set wins at the Viking Classic on Friday, Coach Kelly Bethke's Augustana volleyball team remained undefeated on the young season with two more wins on Saturday at Carver Center. The Vikings beat UW-River Falls 3-1 in their morning match and then handled 24th-ranked Cornell in straight sets in the afternoon to finish the weekend with a 4-0 record, tying Hamline for best mark in the tournament. The Vikings and Pipers did not meet.

Augustana placed two players on the all-tournament team, including MVP Emily Leazer (St. Viator HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.). She was joined by sophomore Jacqueline Kibir-Evans (Trinity HS, Forest Park, Ill.).

Augustana 3, UW-River Falls 1 (25-22; 23-25; 27-25; 25-18)

Senior Dory Dudley (Tremont HS, Tremont, Ill.) came through with 14 kills as Augustana defeated UW-River Falls in four sets. After three highly-contested sets, including the only one the Vikings dropped all weekend (23-25 in the second), the hosts won the final in convincing fashion, 25-18. Leazer's seventh kill of the match provided the final point.

Junior Martha Murray (Evanston HS, Evanston, Ill.) recorded 10 kills and Kibir-Evans matched Leazer's total of seven. Leazer added a match-high 24 digs and got ample help from juniors Kylie Siebert (Kaneland HS, Sugar Grove, Ill.) and Jordan Hampel (Hilliard Davidson HS, Hilliard, Ohio), who had 22 and 14, respectively. Hampel led the Vikings with 26 assists, while sophomore Hannah Lindaman (North Scott HS, Eldridge, Iowa) chipped in with 17.

Augustana 3, Cornell 0 (26-24; 25-15; 25-21)

Bethke's bunch finished off the weekend with an impressive straight-set win over a Cornell squad that finished 28-4 last year and came in ranked 24th in the AVCA preseason poll.

The Vikings claimed a nip-and-tuck opening set 26-24, getting the final two points on kills by Leazer and Dudley. Behind 9-8 in the second, they scored four straight points—three with Julee Morrison (Chaparral HS, Scottsdale, Ariz.) serving—to take a 12-9 lead and never trailed again. Augustana scored the final three points of the set on a Ram service error, a Morrison ace and a Leazer kill. Set three was another tight one, with match point coming on a Hailee Brayton (St. Bede Academy, La Salle, Ill.) kill.

Leazer finished with a team-high nine kills, while Murray added seven. Hampel and Lindaman provided 12 and 11 assists, respectively and each added eight digs. Siebert and Leazer were the dig leaders with 18 and 14, respectively. Morrison and Leazer each came through with three service aces.

Next weekend the Vikings are in action at the Cal Lutheran Tournament in Thousand Oaks, California. Augustana will face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Redlands on Friday, September 5 and Willamette and Chapman on Saturday, September 6.

2014 Viking Classic Tournament Page