Box Score GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Augustana Vikings women's water polo team knocked off the Witternberg Tigers for the third time this season on Friday to advance to the Collegiate Water Polo Association DIII title game to take place tomorrow afternoon. The Vikings erased a halftime deficit with a big third quarter and held on for the 15-13 victory.

Alyssa Fricker and Olivia Hillhouse each tallied five goals in the game, accounting for the first two to give the Vikings (9-11) an early 2-0 advantage. The Tigers answered with five of the next six goals to double up Augie at 6-3. Hillhouse added two more to make it two for her in the half, while Jillian Hagmann, Annie Opal Dickson, and Ocean Akau notched a score in the opening 16 minutes to cut the halftime deficit to just one as the Tigers brought an 8-7 lead into intermission.

Wittenberg pushed through the first goal of the second just 26 seconds into the third period, but Augustana responded with five unanswered to take a three-goal lead heading into the final frame. Fricker and Charlotte Newport each added two scores in the third, while Hillhouse grabbed her fourth of the game to contribute to the scoring run and bring the game to a 12-9 score in the Vikings' favor.

The Tigers brought the margin to one on two separate occasions in the fourth, beginning with the first two scores to make it 12-11. Fricker and Hillhouse each tallied their fifth goal of the game to push it back out to three, but Wittenberg fought back with two straight to cut it to one yet again. With under a minute remaining, Akau connected on a penalty shot to give Augie some breathing room as the team hung on for the two-point win.

With the win, Augustana advances to the CWPA DIII title game on Saturday afternoon against No. 5 nationally ranked Austin. The 'Roos defeated the Vikings twice this season and are the defending CWPA DIII champion. Courtesy the win, Augustana also earns a spot in the inaugural 2022 USA Water Polo Division III national tournament as the top two teams from the CWPA will take on the top two teams from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) on the weekend of Friday-Sunday, May 6-8, at a site to be determined in California.

Start time for Saturday's championship game will be at 12:30 p.m. CST.