ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team was defeated in a non-conference match against the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees from inside the Carver Center on Friday night, falling by a score of 3-1 (25-21, 25-23, 15-25, 25-19).
The two teams played to a 9-9 deadlock to kick off the opening set, but the Fighting Bees broke away from the tie with the next five points to force an Augustana timeout. St. Ambrose hovered around that margin for a couple of rallies before the Vikings inched closer and cut it to two points on three separate occasions. Augie was unable to get it under that mark and St. Ambrose scored four of the final six points to take set one by a score of 25-21.
Augustana responded with a hot start to the second game, jumping out to a quick 8-3 lead that included a 7-0 scoring outburst. The Bees climbed back to even the set at 11 points apiece, follow by each team alternating scores for several rallies, neither grabbing a lead of more than one until the Vikings secured consecutive points to make it 18-16. St. Ambrose bounced back to tie the game and both squads continued to trade points up to another tie of 23-23. The Fighting Bees secured the final scores of the game on an attack error and kill to steal set two with a final of 25-23 to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
The Vikings had yet another fast start to the third set and this time did not give it up, seeing their advantage skyrocket to ten. St. Ambrose cut it to six at one point, but the Vikings pushed it back up to double figures before taking the set with a final of 25-15 to trim the match deficit to 2-1.
St. Ambrose notched seven of the first ten points of the fourth frame to force an Augie timeout. The Bees cushioned their lead a little further and doubled up the Vikings at 12-6 before the Augie cut the differential in half. The rest of the way went back-and-forth, at one point seeing the margin shrink to two, but St. Ambrose held off Augustana's comeback threat to win the set by a score of 25-19.
Aidan Bolen ended his night with a match-high 12 kills.
Ben Schultz added seven, while
Matthew Degnan tallied 25 assists.
With the loss, Augie drops to 6-15 overall. The team will dive back into CCIW play on Sunday, March 27 when they take on the Illinois Wesleyan Titans in their final road match of the season. Start time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. from Bloomington, Ill.
