ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana split its final two regular season matches Saturday at the Pumpkin Bash. The Vikings fell in three sets to Nebraska Wesleyan (18-7) before bouncing back to down Monmouth (12-16) in four. Coach Kelly Bethke's squad moved to 12-18 on the season heading into CCIW Tournament play at Elmhurst on Tuesday, November 5.
 
Saturday was also Senior Day at Carver Center, with the program recognizing five players in their final appearance at home. Augustana honored Grace Bialobok (Homewood-Flossmoor HS, Homewood, Ill.), Madi Glatz (Morton HS, Morton, Ill.), Brooke Harmon (Lindbergh HS, St. Louis, Mo.), Brooke Keegan (Hall HS, Ladd, Ill.) and Taylor Steger (Red Wing HS, Goodhue, Minn.) before the Monmouth match.
 
NEBRASKA WESLEYAN 3, AUGUSTANA 0 (25-17, 25-17, 26-24)
 
The Prairie Wolves grabbed the lead early in set one, taking the first two points on Augustana errors and extending the advantage to 7-2 on consecutive Ana Thacker kills. An NWU service error sparked an 8-2 Viking run that gave the hosts their first lead. After falling behind 14-11, a Bialobok kill and a Harmon service ace bookended a 4-0 run that gave Augustana its final lead at 15-14. However, two straight Hannah Bellinghausen kills ignited a 6-0 Prairie Wolf run and the Vikings would get no closer than four points the rest of the way. Nicole Gonzales' kill eventually finished off a 25-17 NWU win.
 
The visitors claimed game two by the same score. They took five straight points to go up 9-3 and were never really challenged after that. A kill by freshman Abby Phalen (Mendota HS, Mendota, Ill.) cut the Augustana deficit to 16-12, but Bellinghausen answered with one of her own that sparked a 5-0 run by the Prairie Wolves. Set point came on a block by Whitney Jensen and Cora Svoboda.
 
Bialobok had three kills as the Vikings jumped on top 5-0 in set three. Bellinghausen answered with three as NWU pulled to within 6-5, but another by Bialobok started a 7-3 Augustana run that made it 13-8. The Prairie Wolves called a timeout and then responded with a 6-1 spurt that tied it at 14-all. It was nip-and-tuck the rest of the way. Only when Jessica Nguyen's (Kaneland HS, Elburn, Ill.) ace gave the Vikings a 23-20 edge did the margin exceed two points. Svoboda had a kill that fought off set point and tied it at 24-all and NWU closed out the match with an Augustana attack error and another kill by Svoboda.
 
Bialobok led the Vikings with 11 kills. Sophomore Olivia Doak (Crystal Lake Central HS, Crystal Lake, Ill.) had 23 assists and 12 digs, eight less than Nguyen's match-high 20.
 
Bellinghausen led the Prairie Wolves with 13 kills.
 
AUGUSTANA 3 MONMOUTH 1, (26-28, 25-23, 25-22, 25-19)
 
Bialobok had two kills and Doak a pair of aces as the hosts took an 8-3 lead over Monmouth in game one. The Scots got two Riley Cook kills in an 8-1 run that gave them an 11-9 advantage. Later, Augustana sandwiched two 4-0 runs around one by Monmouth and eventually took a 20-19 lead on a block by freshman Ja'Nya Davis (Narbonne HS, Harbor City, Calif.). After the Scots took a 24-22 lead, kills by junior Laura Heuermann (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) and Harmon fended off set points and the Vikings fought off another with a Monmouth error that tied it at 25-all. However, Lauren Sperry had two kills as the Scots took three of the next four points to win 28-26.
 
Monmouth jumped in front 11-6 in game two, but Augustana got kills from four different players in a 6-0 run that put the Vikings up 12-11. They took seven of the next 10 points as well and went up 19-14 when Davis and Steger teamed up on a block. Trailing 24-19, the Scots fought off four set points, drawing to within 24-23 on an Augustana attack error, before a service error gave the Vikings a 25-23 win.
 
Augustana overcame a slow start to take the third game by a score of 25-22. A Sperry kill gave Monmouth its biggest lead at 13-7 and the Scots were still up 17-12 before the Vikings went on a 9-1 run, grabbing a 21-18 advantage on a Doak kill. Ashley Farris had three kills as Monmouth pulled to within 22-21, but Bialobok had a kill and Doak an ace to make it 24-21. The Scots fought of one set point, but a kill by Steger gave Augustana the win.
 
Other than ties at one and four-all, the Vikings led the entire way in game four. A Monmouth service error gave Augustana the lead for good at 5-4. Three straight Bialobok kills later pushed the advantage to 16-11 and a Doak ace gave the Vikings their biggest lead at 18-12, a margin that would be matched four more times. The final was 25-19, with match point coming on Bialobok's career-high 23rd kill of the match.
 
Harmon added 12 kills, while Doak had 44 assists and Keegan a dozen. Doak's eight aces equaled the fourth-most ever in a match for Augustana. Nguyen had 26 digs to lead five Vikings in double figures and Davis recorded a match-high seven blocks.
 
Sperry and Farris each had 14 kils for the Scots.