CHICAGO, Ill.— Augustana split a pair of matches in Chicago on Saturday, defeating Maranatha Baptist in straight sets before falling to host Concordia-Chicago in four. Coach Mike Ducey's Vikings moved to 10-8 on the season and will face Loras in Dubuque, Iowa on Tuesday, March 3 at 7:00 p.m.
 
AUGUSTANA 3, MARANATHA BAPTIST 0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-8)
 
Augustana hit a program-record .437 on the way to a dominant victory in its first match of the day. Freshman Jarod Hesse (Grayslake North HS, Lake Villa, Ill.) had nine kills and no errors in just 12 swings for a percentage of .750.
 
Junior Justin Murphy (Glenbard East HS, Lombard, Ill.) had three kills as the Vikings used a 7-0 run to go up 13-4 in set one. A kill by sophomore sophomore Sanchit Khaitan (Glenbard North HS, Bloomingdale, Ill.) eventually closed out a 25-12 Augustana win.
 
Game two played out much the same way, with the Vikings again winning 25-12.
 
A Murphy kill snapped a 2-2 tie in set three and Augustana rolled to a 25-8 victory. Sophomore Joey DeMatteo (New Trier HS, Winnetka, Ill.) closed out the match with consecutive service aces.
 
Murphy matched Hesse's match-high nine kills. Sophomore Luis Zavala (Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort, Ill.) hit .778 with eight kills and one error on nine attempts and Jason Szara (Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort, Ill.) had six kills and no errors on eight swings, good for a .750 mark.
 
Khaitan finished with 19 assists and junior Ryan Hirschel (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) 15. Junior Brett Kliegl (Neuqua Valley HS, Bolingbrook, Ill.) led the way with 10 digs. Three Vikings each posted two aces or two blocks.
 
CONCORDIA-CHICAGO 3, AUGUSTANA 1 (12-25, 26-24, 25-20, 25-15)
 
Augustana's tangle with the Cougars (now 11-3 on the year) started out promisingly, with another 25-12 Viking win. Concordia trailed 12-8 after consecutive Brian Perez kills, but Augustana ran off 12 of the next 14 points. The Cougars fought off two set points before committing a service error to end it.
 
Ducey's bunch rallied from deficits of 18-11 and 22-17 to force bonus volleyball in game two, eventually pulling even at 24-all on a Gary Dodovich (St. Benedict HS, Chicago, Ill.) kill. However, Virgilio Rodriguez had back-to-back kills to even the match at a set apiece.
 
The hosts led nearly the entire way in winning game three 25-20. Ryan Felbinger and Trent Weber teamed up on a block for set point.
 
The Vikings led 10-8 in game four, but Concordia came roaring back to claim 17 of the last 22 points and win 25-15. Match point came via an Augustana service error.
 
Dodovich led the Vikings with 11 kills and 11 digs and Zavala added 10 kills. Hirschel (20 assists) and Khaitan (17) again split setting duties. Junior Matthew Schiferl (Wheeling HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) chipped in with 10 digs and Hesse had a team-high five blocks.
 
Luke Vonzenilek had a match-high 18 kills for the Cougars and Weber dished out 41 assists.