ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team returned home for their first match from inside the Carver Center since March 1 on Wednesday, falling in a conference match to the No. 4 ranked North Central Cardinals by a score of 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 19-25, 25-13).

North Central jumped out to two separate four-point leads within the first 20 scored, but the Vikings responded each time with a mini spurt to either tie or cut the deficit to one. The Cardinals continued to gradually stretch their lead out and got to the four-point differential several more times before finally eclipsing it with a 19-14 advantage. Augie got back within four after seeing it grow to six, but were unable to catch up as North Central held on for the 25-19 set one victory.

It was a back-and-forth start to set two as neither team saw a lead reach two points until the Cardinals broke a 12-12 tie with three consecutive scores to force a Vikings timeout. After North Central pushed their margin to four, Augie charged back to cut it to 18-17, but was answered with a 6-1 run from the Cardinals to bring them to set point. The Vikings did not go down quietly, scoring three straight to cut the differential to two, but the Cardinals secured their final point to make it a 25-22 victory and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Augustana enjoyed a fast start in game three, tallying the first four points of the frame that resulted in a quick North Central timeout. The Vikings maintained their lead and eventually grew it to seven three different times before pushing it to double figures at 24-14. The Cardinals strung together four straight points, but an attack error gave Augie their 25^th point to bring the match to 2-1 in favor of the road team.

North Central doubled up Augustana early on in the fourth, jumping out to an 8-4 lead to start. The margin grew after an Augie timeout to nine at 16-7 to force another timeout from the home team. North Central continued to pour in quick points the rest of the way on their way to a 25-13 win to clinch the match.

Aiden Bond led the Vikings offensive efforts with 11 kills, which tied a match high. Josh Van Essen and Aidan Bolen each added seven, while Matthew Degnan tallied 21 assists.

With the loss, Augustana falls to 6-14 overall and 2-7 in the CCIW. The team will step out of conference for their next match on Friday, March 25 when they host the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees. Start time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from inside the Carver Center.