ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings women's volleyball team knocked off the No. 21 ranked Illinois Wesleyan Titans on Friday night inside the Carver Center, winning by a score of 3-2 (25-19, 25-17, 21-25, 20-25, 15-11). It is the first win over the Titans since 2015
After the Titans grabbed the first two points of the opening set, Augie rattled off seven in a row to force an early Illinois Wesleyan timeout. Following the break, the scoring run went to nine and the Vikings eventually saw their biggest lead of the game at 12-4. The Titans got within three at 15-12, but would never get it to that margin again as the Vikings extended their lead back out eight before taking the set by a score of 25-19.
Augustana was in control for the entirety of the second set, never trailing as they quickly doubled up Illinois Wesleyan by a score of 8-4 and again at 10-5. For the second consecutive frame, the Titans trimmed the Vikings' lead to three mid-way through, but Augie countered with another late scoring burst to pull away for good. Four of the final five points for Augustana came by way of a kill, capped off by a
Jaden Julius strike to give them a 2-0 lead in the match.
It was another fast start for the Vikings in set three, jumping out to five-point advantage at 7-2. The Titans stormed back to force an Augie timeout, cutting it to one at 8-7. From there, Augie regained a small cushion of a couple of points, but saw their differential vanish as the set came to a 13-13 tie. The Titans enjoyed their first lead of the match since they were up 2-0 in set one, forcing the Vikings' second timeout of the game leading 15-13. A 4-1 scoring run for Augie forced a Titans timeout as they reclaimed the lead. The two teams continued to trade points until the Titans broke away from a 19-19 deadlock with six of the final seven to force a fourth set.
The Vikings grabbed the first point of set four and kept their advantage in tact until the Titans evened things up at 12 points apiece and took the lead with the very next score. The two teams alternated points until an Augustana timeout halted the game with Illinois Wesleyan leading 18-17. The Titans earned three straight scores out of the timeout to force another from the Vikings, but the home team countered with three of their own to trim the deficit to one at 21-20. Wesleyan closed it out with four in a row to push it to a fifth and final set.
A quick 4-0 start from the Vikings force an early timeout in the fifth set, as three attack errors from the Titans helped give Augie the early advantage. The margin grew to 5-0, but five straight from Illinois Wesleyan tied it up to result in a timeout from Augustana. The Vikings held an 8-7 lead as the two teams switched sides. Following a point from IWU, Augie tallied four of the next five points to pull away, eventually ending the long match on a service ace from
Amelie Baehr-Ross.
Emily Schipper posted a team-best 14 kills to lead the Vikings, followed by nine from Julius and seven from
Caroline Hurst. Baehr-Ross ended her night with 29 assists, 20 digs, four services aces, and four kills, while
Syd Krueger added four blocks.
Grace Vranicar grabbed 23 digs to anchor a defense that saw 194 attacks from their opponent.
With the win, Augustana improves to 13-4 on the season and 3-1 in CCIW play. The team now sits in a tie for first place. The Vikings are back in action tomorrow when they host Loras and Grinnell in a non-conference home tri-meet. Start time is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.
