Box Score

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – After winning the first set 25-17 Tuesday at North Central, Augustana dropped three straight, falling to the Cardinals in four at Merner Fieldhouse. The Vikings dropped to 9-13 on the season and 1-4 in the CCIW, while the hosts improved to 9-4 overall and 2-2 in the league.
 
With junior McKenzie Zambrano (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) serving, Augustana jumped in front 5-0 in the opening set, getting kills from juniors Taryn VanEarwage (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) and Emily Uglem (Moorhead HS, Moorhead, Minn.) and sophomore Grace Bialobok (Homewood-Flossmoor HS, Homewood, Ill.). A 7-0 North Central run gave the Cardinals a 15-14 lead, but Coach Kelly Bethke's outfit responded by winning 11 of the final 13 points. Bialobok's third kill of the game accounted for set point.
 
The Cardinals answered with a 25-16 win in game two. Claire Vrabec had three kills in a 5-0 North Central run that gave the hosts a 9-3 lead. The Vikings would get no closer than four points the rest of the way. Set point came on a Rachel Elshoff kill.
 
Augustana led 10-8 in the third, but the Cardinals won eight of the next ten points to go up 16-12. The Vikings battled back to tie it 17-17 on a Danielle Janacek (Lincoln-Way East HS, Mokena, Ill.) kill, but when Anna Billman and Alexa Zimbelman teamed up on a block to put North Central ahead 19-18, the hosts had the lead for good. Set point in a 25-22 Cardinal win came on a block by Billman and Maya Bryant.
 
In the fourth set, Augustana fought off four match points to tie it 25-all on an Emily Westermeyer (Huntley HS, Huntley, Ill.) kill. The Vikings faced match point five more times and North Central faced three set points before a Caiti Seibert service ace finally finished off a 35-33 Cardinal win.
 
Uglem led Augustana with a dozen kills. Westermeyer and VanEarwage added nine each and Bialobok eight. Zambrano recorded a season-high 27 assists. Senior Claire Martin (Mother McAuley HS, Orland Park, Ill.) had both of the Vikings' service aces and a match-high 25 digs. Bialobok had a solo block and assisted on three others.
 
Elshoff had a match-high 18 kills for North Central and Cara Howell added 15. Zimbelman's 38 assists were a match high as well.
 
Augustana is back at home on Friday, October 13, hosting Loras in a 7:00 p.m. match. It will be "Camper Night" at Carver Center.