RIVER FOREST, Ill. – The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team hits the road on Wednesday, March 8 to face the Concordia-Chicago Cougars and Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets for their fourth tri-match of the season. 

The Vikings possess an 8-5 record and are coming off a 3-1 defeat to the Loras Duhawks on March 1. The first set favored the Duhawks, with Augie battling to 5-5 early in the game before a 13-4 Loras run propelled the home team to a 25-11 victory. The Vikings trailed 4-2 early in the second frame but snatched the lead for good after a 7-1 scoring surge. The Duhawks cut the Augie advantage to one at 24-23, but a Zach Moreano game-winning kill evened the series 1-1. Loras secured the third set 25-13 before winning the contest with a 25-16 game-four win after an Augie comeback attempt came up short. 

Sean Carlson led the Vikings with eight kills, while Aidan Bolen finished behind with five. Josh Van Essen and Matthew Degnan had five kills to pace Augie, with Degnan totaling 21 assists. 

Concordia-Chicago will be Augie's first test of the day, sporting a 7-7 record on the season, with their most recent action resulting in a 3-2 victory over Wabash. The Cougars pulled away in the fifth set behind a five-point burst, leading to a 15-11 game and series win. Concordia's setter Elijah Mosher earned a career-high 50 assists, while Tyler Holubek laid down 21 kills to lead the team. Augustana boasts a 2-1 record in the all-time series against the Cougars. The last meeting between the two programs resulted in a 3-0 neutral-site victory for the Vikings on February 12, 2022 in St. Louis, Mo. Augie dropped CUC in three consecutive sets, with Ben Schultz leading the team with six kills, while Bolen, Van Essen, and Degnan added five. 

Baldwin Wallace possesses 16-3 record entering Wednesday's tri-match and is coming off a three-set sweep of Olivet (Mich.). They dropped the Comets by set scores of 25-17, 25-19, 25-14, led by right-side hitter Nick Mazzone who notched a match-high 12 kills. The Yellow Jackets are currently on a four-match win streak and are hitting at a .255 clip on their attempts compared to .149 mark from their opposition. Wednesday will be the first-ever meeting between Baldwin Wallace and Augustana.

Start time is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. for the first set of the tri-match and 5:00 p.m. for the second contest. The stream link can be found here.