ROCK ISLAND - The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team remains home on Wednesday, March 22 for a conference matchup against the Loras Duhawks.
The Vikings are 10-7 overall, 1-3 in conference, and are coming off a 3-0 defeat to the No. 6 ranked Carthage Firebirds on Wednesday, March 15. The Firebirds surged to a 9-3 lead in the opening game before the Vikings cut the lead to two. The two teams continued to battle closely, with Augustana trimming the deficit to just one point on three separate occasions. Carthage pulled away after a 10-3 scoring run secured the opening set 25-17. The Vikings held an early advantage in the second frame before the Firebirds knotted the game at 9-9. Carthage pulled ahead by as many as five points at 20-15, but the Vikings stormed back to tie the game at 24 all. The conference foes traded points before a kill and an attack error from the Firebirds secured the second set 27-25. Carthage walked away with the third-game victory after Augie fell behind 11-6, never trimming the deficit to less than five as the Firebirds secured their fifth road win.
Sean Carlson was the Vikings' top attacker, ending with nine kills on 21 attempts. Matthew Degnan and Max Sellers led the defensive efforts with seven digs apiece.
Loras comes into Wednesday's game with a 14-3 overall record and a 3-2 conference record. The Duhawks are on a two-game winning streak, most recently defeating the Illinois Wesleyan Titans in three sets. Loras continued their dominance of the Titans, remaining undefeated all-time against their CCIW opposition, winning by set scores of 25-21, 25-13 and 25-14. Michael Dziewior led the Duhawks with 11 kills on 15 attempts, helping the team hit at a collective .400 clip.
Augustana leads Loras in the all-time series 5-4, and will try to level the season series after dropping 3-1 to Loras on March 1 in Dubuque. In their matchup earlier this month, Augie fell behind 1-0 in the match following a forgettable 25-11 opening set. The Vikings rebounded with a 25-23 win, capped off by a Zach Moreano kill to snuff out a late Duhawk comeback attempt. Augie dropped the next two games by scores of 25-13 and 25-16.
Carlson led the Augie offense with eight kills, while Aidan Bolen came in second with five. Josh Van Essen and Degnan had five digs to lead the Vikings, while also Degnan racked up 21 assists.
Start time from the Roy J. Carver Center is set for 7:00 p.m. Stream link for the conference bout can be found here.
