DECATUR, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team picked up a narrow 3-2 victory on the road Tuesday night, defeating the Millikin Big Blue to start the conference slate in the win column.
The two teams saw a back-and-forth opening set, playing to a 16-16 tie to kick things off. From there, the Vikings broke the deadlock with five of the next six points scored to take control of the game with a four-point lead. That margin proved to be the differential and Augustana claimed the opening set 25-21 to take a one-point lead overall.
It was a near identical start to the second set, with each team trading points up to an 8-8 score. Again, the Vikings broke away and grew an advantage as large as three, but the Big Blue eventually tied the game and proceeded to go on a 4-0 spurt later on in the frame. Overall, Millikin orchestrated an 8-1 outburst to turn a one-point deficit into a six-point lead at 23-17. The score turned to 24-18 after the two teams traded points, but the Vikings denied the set point for the Big Blue five consecutive rallies, charging all the way back with six straight scores to even the set at 24 points apiece. Augie was unable to take the lead and the home team held on to a 28-26 win to tie the match at one win each.
In set three, the two teams continued to trade points and fought an evenly-played set until a team was able to cushion themselves yet again. Once more it was Augie, scoring five in a row to stretch a 12-11 lead into six at 17-11. There was no comeback threat the rest of the way as the margin never got under four points. Augustana took set three 25-19, but Millikin answered with a dominating end to set four, scoring 12 of 15 late to coast to a nine-point win and force a fifth and final game.
The Vikings jumped out a 3-1 lead to begin the deciding set, but like all match the home team fought back to eventually tie it up at 6-6. From there, a 4-0 run from Augie allowed them to create separation on the scoreboard and eventually fend off another comeback effort that saw one more tie at 11-11. A kill from
Aidan Bolen broke the tie, followed by two miscues from the Big Blue to bring Augie to match point. Bolen earned the final kill of the contest to bring the Vikings a 15-12 win and 3-2 match victory. He ended the match with 14 kills with a hitting percentage of .264.
Leading the way for Augustana was
Aiden Bond with 17 kills.
Ben Schultz also had double-digit kills with 11, connecting on a team-high 38 percent of his attempts.
Matthew Degnan posted his fourth 40-assist match this year, ending with a season-high 45.
Max Sellers led the defensive efforts with 14 digs.
With the win, the Vikings improve to 5-6 on the season and 1-0 in the CCIW. The team will return home for their next contest on Saturday, February 19 when they host the No. 8 ranked and defending national champion Carthage Firebirds. Start time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. from inside the Carver Center.
