KENOSHA, Wis. -- The Augustana Vikings women's volleyball team dropped a close road contest at the Carthage Firebirds on Wednesday, falling 3-2 in a five-set thriller.

Augustana grabbed the early lead in the match following a 25-22 set one-victory. Caroline Hurst notched the final two kills of the game to seal the win. Carthage came back to even the match at one win apiece with a 25-20 second-set victory.

The Vikings went ahead in the match once again following their set-three victory. With Carthage leading 4-3 early on, Augustana used a 7-0 scoring run to reclaim control of the set. The Firebirds never led the rest of the way, despite catching up and tying the Vikings at 20-20. Augustana grabbed four of the final five points scored to take the set by a final of 25-21.

A back-and-forth game in set four brought the two teams to a 16-16 tie, which was then followed by three consecutive points from the Vikings to force a Firebirds timeout. Coming out of the stoppage of play, the home team rattled off nine in a row to claim the 25-19 set win and force a fifth and deciding game.

Augie grabbed the first point of the set five, but had to play catch up for a majority of the first portion of the frame. Trailing 10-6, the Vikings stormed back to even the score at 10 points apiece, but were met with a 4-0 run from the Firebirds out of a timeout. Carthage held on to win 15-11 and take the match 3-2.

Emily Schipper led the Vikings with a team-high 15 kills, followed by 10 from Hurst. Amelie Baehr-Ross tallied 35 assists, while Grace Vranicar notched a match-best 23 digs. With her 18th dig in the fourth set, she eclipsed 1,000 career digs for her career.

With the loss, Augustana drops to 14-6 overall and 3-2 in the CCIW. The team will be back in action on Tuesday, October 11 when they visit the Elmhurst Bluejays. Start time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from Elmhurst, Ill.