ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana put up a battle Saturday against eighth-ranked University of Chicago at the Carver Center, but ultimately fell in five sets to a powerful Maroon

outfit. The Vikings dropped to 14-12 on the year, while the visitors improved to 25-3.
 
Augustana led wire-to-wire in a 25-22 game-one win. The Vikings biggest lead came at 23-12 following a Victoria Biggerstaff (Broomfield HS, Broomfield, Colo.) service ace. They still led 24-15 after junior Grace Bialobok (Homewood-Flossmoor HS, Homewood, Ill.) set senior Emily Uglem (Moorhead HS, Moorhead, Minn.) for a kill. Chicago then fought off seven straight set points to get it to 24-22, but finally committed an attack error to give Augustana the set.
 
Game two was tight the entire way, with neither team holding a lead of more than three points. The Maroons' only three-point margin came at 21-18, but the hosts answered with a Taryn VanEarwage (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) kill and three straight by freshman Sierra Erke (Quincy HS, Quincy, Ill.) to take a 22-21 lead. However, Chicago claimed four of the last five points, with set point in a 25-23 Maroon win coming on a Viking ball handling error.
 
Augustana could never quite recover after falling behind 6-0 in game three. Audrey Scrafford had three kills in Chicago's opening spree. The Vikings got as close as two points on five occasions, but Anabella Pinton had a pair of kills in a 7-2 Maroon run that extended their lead to 21-14. Two more VanEarwage kills helped Augustana trim the deficit to 22-19, but Chicago eventually won 25-21, getting set point via a Viking attack error.
 
The hosts rallied from a 20-15 deficit in game four to pull out a 26-24 win. An Uglem kill started Augustana's comeback. Still trailing 24-22, the Vikings fought off match point when the Maroons committed a service error. Augustana tied it on a kill by junior Courtney Ward (Crystal Lake Central HS, Lakewood, Ill.) and then got two more from Bialobok to force a fifth set.
 
Chicago won the first three points of game five and an Ann Marie Stifter kill eventually extended the Maroons' lead to 6-2. They led 8-5 at the turn, but the Vikings took four of five points coming out of the break to pull even at nine-all. Freshman Olivia Doak (Crystal Lake Central HS, Crystal Lake, Ill.) set Erke for a kill that deadlocked the score one final time at 10-10. Chicago responded with the next three points, taking a 13-10 lead on a Sarah Muisenga kill. Biggerstaff and Muisenga traded kills and Augustana fought off a match point with a Bialobok kill, but a Viking service error gave the Maroons the match.
 
Coach Kelly Bethke had four players reach double digits in kills, led by Bialobok's 15. VanEarwage and Erke each had a dozen and Uglem 11. Doak had 29 assists and senior McKenzie Zambrano (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) 15. VanEarwage chipped in a match-high 31 digs, while Junior Madi Glatz (Morton HS, Morton, Ill.) had 23, Biggerstaff 18 and Doak 17. Brooke Harmon (Lindbergh HS, St. Louis, Mo.) led Augustana with four blocks and she, Biggerstaff and VanEarwage each delivered two aces.
 
Muisenga's 19 kills for Chicago were a match high. Emma Griffith dished out a match-best 55 assists and five Maroons came up with double-digit digs, led by Muisenga's 25.
 
The Vikings wrap up their CCIW regular season slate on Tuesday, October 23, traveling to Waukesha, Wisconsin to face Carroll in a 7:00 p.m. match.