Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana picked up two wins Friday at the Pumpkin Bash. The Vikings downed Simpson in five games in the afternoon and came back to defeat Illinois College in straight sets on "High School Night" Friday evening at Carver Center. Coach Kelly Bethke's club improved to 14-14 on the year heading into Saturday's Senior Day season finale against Wartburg at 1:00 p.m.
 
AUGUSTANA 3, SIMPSON 2 (22-25; 25-12; 25-16; 24-26; 15-8)
 
Augustana downed Simpson in five sets in its Pumpkin Bash opener. Decisive wins in games two, three and five offset a pair of narrow losses in sets one and four.
 
Sophomore Grace Bialobok (Homewood-Flossmoor HS, Homewood, Ill.) and senior Emily Westermeyer (Huntley HS, Huntley, Ill.) each had five kills in the first game, but the Vikings couldn't overcome six service errors in a 25-22 loss. Morgan Taylor had six kills to lead the Storm.
 
The hosts won set two behind three blocks and three kills by senior Maissie Musick (Camp Point Central HS, Camp Point, Ill.). Senior Claire Martin (Mother McAuley HS, Orland Park, Ill.) served the final seven points in an 8-0 Augustana run that took the score from 7-5 to 15-5 and her ace provided set point in a 25-12 win.
 
Westermeyer contributed six more kills in a 25-16 Viking win in game three. Augustana jumped in front 7-2 and Simpson would get no closer than four points the rest of the way. A 6-0 run that included two kills each by Bialobok and Westermeyer gave the hosts a 17-7 advantage. Set point eventually came on a kill by freshman Kaylah Townsell (Galesburg HS, Galesburg, Ill.).
 
Set four was nip-and-tuck the entire way. No more than two points separated the teams at any time. Westermeyer's seventh kill of the game tied it at 24-all, but the Storm got a Jacque Luth kill and an Alyssa Mathews ace to win 26-24.
 
Bialobok had a kill and was in on two blocks as the Vikings took a 5-2 lead in the final game. A Taryn VanEarwage (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) kill gave Augustana an 8-3 lead at the break and match point in a 15-8 Viking win came on a Musick kill.
 
Westermeyer finished with 20 kills. Bialobok added 15 with just one error in 28 attempts for a crisp .500 attack percentage. For the second straight match, junior McKenzie Zambrano (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) recorded a season high in assists and Martin a season high in digs. Each finished with 33. VanEarwage chipped in with 29 digs. Bialobok was in on five blocks—including three of the solo variety—and Musick four.
 
Taylor led Simpson (9-15) with 13 kills, Mathews with 36 assists and Arianna Martinez with 20 digs.
 
AUGUSTANA, 3 ILLINOIS COLLEGE 0 (25-19; 25-23; 25-16)
 
Despite falling behind early in each game, Augustana came back to win three straight against Illinois College.
 
The Vikings trailed 4-1 out of the gate in game one and didn't take their first lead until 13-12. Augustana finally took the lead for good at 19-18 on a block by Musick and Kaycee Kallenberger (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) and went on to win seven of the last eight points and post a 25-19 win. A VanEarwage kill accounted for set point.
 
The hosts didn't grab their first lead in set two until 22-21 on a Lady Blue attack error. After ties at 22 and 23-all, Bialobok had a kill and VanEarwage and Musick teamed up on a block that closed out the set 25-23 in Augustana's favor.
 
Trailing 3-1 in game three, the Vikings went on a 6-0 run and were never seriously threatened after that. A VanEarwage ace pushed the margin to double digits at 18-8 and Illinois College would get no closer than six points the rest of the way. Match point came on a Lady Blue attack error.
 
Westermeyer led Augustana with 10 kills and VanEarwage added eight, along with team highs of two service aces and 13 digs. Zambrano had 14 assists and sophomore Brooke Keegan (Hall HS, Ladd, Ill.) contributed 13. Zambrano (11) and Martin (10) joined VanEarwage with double figure digs and Musick (eight), Bialobok (seven) and Westermeyer (six) all came up big in the block department.