Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Three days after knocking off 15th-ranked Elmhurst on the road, Coach Kelly Bethke's Augustana volleyball team couldn't quite pull it off again Friday, falling in five games to 25th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan at the Shirk Center. The Vikings dropped to 14-5 overall and 2-2 in the CCIW heading into non-conference matches against Lincoln Christian and Fontbonne on Saturday, October 8, also in Bloomington. The host Titans improved to 12-5 on the year and 4-1 in the league.
 
In the decisive fifth set, the teams alternated the first five points before Augustana won four straight on kills by juniors Emily Westermeyer (Huntley HS, Huntley, Ill.) and Maissie Musick (Camp Point Central HS, Camp Point, Ill.), senior Amy Kalkhoff (Clear Creek Amana HS, North Liberty, Iowa) and sophomore Taryn VanEarwage (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.), respectively.
 
The visitors still led 8-5 at the turn-around, but IWU won five of six points to go from an 11-8 deficit to a 13-12 lead. The Vikings tied it at 13 and 14-all, but the Titans claimed the final two points. Match point came on a Leah Seielstad service ace.
 
It was Augustana that came from behind in the opening game. Trailing 23-18, the Vikings took eight of nine points to win 26-24. Westermeyer and VanEarwage each had a pair of kills in the run, with VanEarwage's second accounting for set point.
 
Augustana won the first two points of game two, but the hosts controlled things the rest of the way, posting a 25-14 win. The Vikings trailed slightly for most of set three, but consecutive kills by seniors Nicole Morrissey (Lake Zurich HS, Lake Zurich, Ill.) and Jacqueline Kibir-Evans (Trinity HS, Forest Park, Ill.) and VanEarwage pulled them into a 19-all tie. It was still tied at 23-all before the Titans won the final two points and the game.
 
Bethke's bunch sent the match to a fifth set with a 25-18 game-four win. A pair of Kalkhoff kills fueled an early run that put Augustana up 8-2. IWU got as close as 10-7 before two kills each by Morrissey and VanEarwage helped push the margin back to 18-9. Set point came on a Titan attack error.
 
VanEarwage's match-high 20 kills led four Vikings in double figures. Kibir-Evans added a dozen and Morrissey and Westermeyer 10 each. Senior Hannah Lindaman (North Scott HS, Eldridge, Iowa) and sophomore McKenzie Zambrano (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) had 26 and 25 assists, respectively and sophomore Sierra Rood (Lena-Winslow HS, Lena, Ill.) had Augustana's lone service ace.
 
Six Vikings recorded double-digit digs as the team totaled 105 for the match. VanEarwage (25) and junior libero Claire Martin (Mother McAuley HS, Orland Park, Ill.) (22) led the way. Kibir-Evans recorded  match highs of three solo blocks and three block assists.