ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team picked up a win in their season finale Friday night, defeating the visiting Millikin Big Blue in consecutive sets by a score of 25-12, 25-15, 25-15.
 
The Vikings began the match with the first six points to force a Big Blue timeout, coming out of the break with two more to make the scoring run eight to start to the contest. The advantage for Augie grew to as many as 13 at 21-8 before eventually closing out the game at the same margin of 25-12 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Aidan Bolen had seven kills in the opening frame to lead the Vikings.
 
It was a better start for the visitors in set two, jumping out to a 5-3 lead early on. The Vikings evened it up two straight scores and proceeded to play a back-and-forth game for several rallies up to a 10-10 tie until Augie broke away with five of the next six points. After a couple of traded scores, the Vikings closed out the set with six straight on their way to a double-digit victory of 25-15.
 
Seven straight points for Augustana to begin the third gave them enough cushion to cruise to a 25-15 win and complete the sweep. Millikin fought back to get it within five following the hot start from Augie, but were unable to get it under the margin the rest of the way, resulting in a 25-15 triumph for the home team.
 
Bolen posted a match-high 13 kills to lead the Vikings, followed by eight from Aiden Bond and seven from Josh Van Essen. Ethan Keung tallied 22 assists to fuel the Augie offense.
 
With the win, Augustana closes the 2022 season with a 7-17 overall record and 3-9 mark in the CCIW.