ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team will close out their 2022 season on Friday, April 1 when they host the Millikin Big Blue in a rescheduled contest from March 12.
The Vikings were defeated in their last outing by the North Park Vikings on Wednesday, falling by a score of 3-0 at home. The win for North Park clinched them the fourth and final spot for the upcoming CCIW Tournament, eliminating Augustana from contention in the process. The visitors jumped out to fast starts in each of the first two sets and withstood late Augie comebacks to hold on for back-to-back 25-19 wins. The third set brought a more back-and-forth beginning to it, with North Park holding on to an 8-7 advantage early on. From there, four straight points forced an Augustana timeout, followed by another short burst to put them up seven. After another break, the lead doubled to 20-10 and North Park cruised to the finish line with a 25-14 set three win to take the match 3-0.
Aidan Bolen led Augie with 11 kills.
Millikin enters Friday winless on the season at 0-21 overall and 0-10 in CCIW action. Dating back to 2020, the Big Blue have lost 36 consecutive matches, with their last win coming on March 3, 2020 against Greenville. Millikin was dropped by No. 3 Carthage by a score of 3-0 in their last outing. The Big Blue close out the season at Augustana on Friday and at North Central on Saturday.
In their previous meeting back on February 15, the Vikings defeated the Big Blue 3-2 in Decatur. Augie won the first and third sets, followed by a close 15-12 fifth game to squeak out the road victory. Three different Vikings had double-digit kills in that one, led by
Aiden Bond's 17 and Bolen's 14.
Ben Schultz also added 11 in the win. Augustana has never lost to Millikin, boasting a 4-0 record in their short history.
Start time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Game coverage vs. Millikin
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