ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings women's volleyball team picked up its fourth straight victory on Wednesday, defeating the Elmhurst Bluejays by a score of 3-1.
It was a dominant first set for the Vikings, forcing Elmhurst to call two timeouts after eight straight points to begin the game. The lead for Augie eventually grew to 11 at 12-1 before cruising to an opening-set win by a score of 25-17. The Vikings posted a match-best .286 hitting percentage in set one while holding the Bluejays to their worst of the contest at .100.
After a back-and-forth start to the second game, the Bluejays jumped out to a seven-point advantage of 18-11. Augie clawed their way back into the contest, using a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to one. Later on, the Vikings claimed their first lead of the set since grabbing the opening point, but a 3-0 spurt from Elmhurst flipped the score to 23-21. Augie answered to even the score, but back-to-back points from the Bluejays allowed them to even the match at one win apiece.
Set three was a back-and-forth battle that saw multiple small runs from each team. Elmhurst saw its biggest advantage of the game at 16-13, but seven of the ensuing eight points went the Vikings' way to turn the three-point differential in their favor. Augie held a slim margin down the stretch and faced set point twice, but the Bluejays battled back to even the score at 24-all. A kill from
Emily Schipper and an ace from
Syd Krueger proved to be the difference maker as Augustana took a 2-1 lead in the match following the two-point win.
A fast start time put the Vikings out in front 7-2 early on in the fourth, but the another scoring run from Elmhurst evened the game and set up an even tradeoff in points over the course of the next 10 rallies. With the score tied at 12, Augustana broke away with an 8-2 scoring surge to pull them away for good. Elmhurst got within five at 23-18, but a service error flipped the momentum right back to the Vikings before
Kira Nelson sealed the match with a kill.
Schipper led a balanced offensive attack with 15 kills, followed by
Jaden Julius and Krueger both with nine.
Amelie Baehr-Ross was the match leader in assists with 45, while
Grace Vranicar notched her fourth 30-dig performance of the season with an even 30.
Leah Rizzo also added 22 digs.
With the win, Augustana improves to 14-4 overall and 3-2 in the CCIW. The victory over Elmhurst snaps a four-match losing streak in the series and is the first win over the Bluejays since 2019.
The team will be back in action this weekend at the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament in Naperville, Ill.
