ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana and Millikin faced off in a non-conference matchup at Carver Center Sunday afternoon and the Big Blue came away a winner in four sets. The Vikings fell to 1-4 on the year while their guests improved to 4-1.
 
Freshman Brook Fieldman (Plainfield East HS, Plainfield, Ill.) had four kills and Lexi Miller (Oswego HS, North Liberty, Iowa) a pair to lead Augustana to an 11-9 lead in set one, but Millikin responded by taking 13 of the next 16 points to go up 22-14. Laura Heuermann (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) had four kills as the Vikings took eight of nine points to pull within 23-22, but a Gabrielle Coulthard kill and an Augustana attack error gave the Big Blue a 25-22 win.
 
The hosts bounced back to take game two 25-23. Sarah Bingenheimer's kill gave Millikin a 1-0 lead, but Fieldman answered with three straight and the Vikings wouldn't trail again. The margin reached six points on five occasions, the last time at 18-12, before the Big Blue got three Madison Clarida kills in a 5-0 run that cut their deficit to 18-17. Bingenheimer and Chelsea Getz teamed up on a block of Fieldman to tie it at 20-all, but consecutive Millikin errors put Augustana back in the driver's seat. The Big Blue fought off a pair of set points before committing a service error that gave the Vikings the win. Fieldman had six kills for the second set in a row.
 
Millikin jumped on top early in game three before Augustana rallied from a seven-point deficit to pull even at 18-all on a Ja'Nya Davis (Narbonne HS, Los Angeles, Calif.) kill. However, Coulthard answered with one of her own and the Big Blue claimed the next two points as well. They eventually won 25-20, getting set point via a Viking service error.
 
The visitors closed things out with a 25-19 win in set four. A kill by Miller tied it at 7-7, but Millikin responded with five straight points and wouldn't be seriously threatened the rest of the way. An Evey Gervase (Marian Catholic HS, Griffith, Ind.) service ace got Augustana to within three at 13-10, but the Big Blue rattled off the next three points and match point later came on a kill by Coulthard.
 
Fieldman finished with 18 kills and Miller added a dozen. Olivia Doak (Crystal Lake Central HS, Crystal Lake, Ill.) had 36 assists, while Grace Vranicar (Kaneland HS, Sugar Grove, Ill.) and Jessica Nguyen (Kaneland HS, Elburn, Ill.) had 25 and 22 digs, respectively.
 
Millikin was led in kills by Clarida (15) and Tori Stuart (14).
 
Coach Kelly Bethke's squad is back in action on Wednesday, March 24, hosting Illinois Wesleyan at Carver Center at 4:00 p.m.