Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana fell in three sets to third-ranked Carthage in its first match Saturday, but bounced back with a convincing three-set win over Aurora at Carver Center. Coach Mark Lau's crew moved to 8-15 on the season and 1-4 in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League heading into a MCVL road match at Olivet on Friday, March 23. The Vikings also honored their lone senior, Tyler Rubarts (Paxton-Buckley-Loda HS, Paxton, Ill.), in his final home match.
 
CARTHAGE 3, AUGUSTANA 0 (25-22; 25-22; 25-12)
 
Augustana jumped in front 8-2 in the first game. Freshmen Justin Murphy (Glenbard East HS, Lombard, Ill.) and Ryan Hirschel (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) had kills and classmate Dylan Baum (Warrensburg-Latham HS, Decatur, Ill.) a service ace in the Vikings' opening flurry. The visitors answered with five straight points and it settled into a tight affair. Only once before the final did the margin exceed two points—when freshman Joshua Richardson's (Homewood-Flossmoor HS, Hazel Crest, Ill.) kill put the hosts up 13-10. The Red Men took the lead for good at 22-21 on a Viking service error and a block by Evan Walsh, Parker Connolly and Kelvin Rivera gave Carthage set point in a 25-22 win.
 
It was Augustana that rallied to make game two close. Carthage led 22-16 following a Viking service error, but Murphy had a kill and Richardson an ace as the hosts rattled off four straight points to get within 22-20. The teams split the next four points before a Walsh kill closed out another 25-22 Red Men win.
 
Carthage bolted to an 8-1 lead in set three behind a pair of Connolly kills and cruised to a 25-12 win. The Vikings would get no closer than five points the rest of the way and match point came on a kill by Kai Cromwell.
 
Richardson finished with a team-high seven kills and no errors in 12 attacks. Hirschel added five kills in seven attempts and dished out 17 assists. Freshman Matthew Schiferl (Wheeling HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) led Augustana with eight digs. Cromwell had team highs of nine kills and 14 digs for the visitors. Matt Reinsel had 33 assists.
 
The Red Men, ranked third in the nation improved to 17-1 on the season and 4-1 in the MCVL.
 
AUGUSTANA 3, AURORA 0 (25-19; 25-15; 25-11)
 
After falling behind 5-2 in game one, the Vikings ran off the next five points, including a pair of Murphy kills, and never looked back. A Baum kill gave Augustana its biggest lead at 24-16. Set point in a 25-19 Viking win came on an Aurora service error.
 
The hosts grabbed a 4-3 lead on a Spartan service error in game two and eventually rolled to a 25-15 win. Freshman Jason Szara (Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort, Ill.) matched his first set total of four kills. Set point came on an Aurora attack error.
 
Baum and Richardson had kills as Augustana took a 4-0 lead in the third game. A Spartan attack error pushed the margin to double digits at 20-10 and Richardson had kills on two of the final three points, including match point, as the Vikings won 25-11.
 
Szara led the way with 10 kills. He had just one attack error and hit .529 for the match. Murphy added eight kills and freshman Andrew Housholder (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) seven, along with a .600 attack percentage. Richardson finished with a half-dozen kills and an equal number of blocks. Hirschel had 30 assists and Schiferl 12 digs.
 
The victory avenged a 3-0 loss at Aurora on January 27. The Spartans dropped to 9-8 on the season.