RIVER FOREST, Ill. – The Augustana men's volleyball team traveled to the Chicagoland area on Wednesday for a tri-match against Concordia-Chicago and Balwin Wallace. The Vikings fell to the Cougars 3-2 by set scores of 20-25, 31-29, 24-26, 26-24, 15-13, before defeating the Yellow Jackets 3-2 by set scores of 25-20, 15-25, 25-15, 27-29, 15-13.
After a small lead to begin the opening game, the Vikings leaped out to a 16-7 lead behind a 10-3 scoring run. Concordia's comeback fell short as they trimmed the Augie lead to as little as four at 23-19 before the Vikings secured the frame with back-to-back kills. An extended second game went in favor of the Cougars. The teams began with a back-and-forth battle before Augie grabbed seven consecutive points to gain a 20-12 lead. The Cougars responded with seven straight of their own to cut it to one before eventually grabbing a 31-29 win to even the match.
The third set was a back-and-forth brawl, with neither team leading by more than two throughout the game. Trailing 18-16, Augustana scored 10 of the next 16 points to win 26-24. Ben Schultz's kill broke a 24-24 tie and was followed by an attack error from Concordia to seal the set. In the fourth, the two teams saw another closely-fought battle, with Augie fighting off set point for Concordia to tie the game at 24 points apiece. Consecutive points from the Cougars resulted in a third straight set decided by two points, forcing a fifth and final frame.
The Cougars secured a 6-5 advantage in the fifth before the Vikings flipped the set in their favor at 8-7. The Vikings endured a 7-3 push from the home team to fall behind by three. Augie scored twice more but could not overcome match-point as the Cougars walked away with a 15-13 fifth-set win to secure the contest.
Augustana's offensive attack was led by Schultz and Aidan Bolen, who had 12 kills each, while Garrett McNelis had 10. Max Sellers led the Vikings with 13 digs, while Matthew Degnan had nine. Degnan also set a new season high in assists with 47.
Augie battled Baldwin Wallace for their second contest of the day, dropping the Yellow Jackets in five sets. After opening the first game with a 6-1 advantage, Augie endured a brief run from the Yellow Jackets before an 8-3 scoring burst pushed the Vikings' lead out to eight. Baldwin Wallace was unable to get the deficit back under five as Augustana took game one by a score of 25-20. Baldwin Wallace controlled much of the second set, using a mid-set run to pull away from Augustana and even the match with a 25-15 victory.
Augustana regained an advantage after quickly doubling up the Yellow Jackets 16-8 in the third. Baldwin Wallace slowly chipped away, cutting the margin to five before the Vikings tallied seven of the final nine points to match the Yellow Jackets' 25-15 victory with one of their own. Five of the final points for Augie were via Baldwin Wallace errors, with the other two coming by way of kills from Bolen and Marcus Rembert.
The Vikings appeared to be in control in the fourth set, pushing their lead out to nine at 21-12 before facing match point at 24-17. Baldwin Wallace rattled off eight straight to flip the advantage in their favor at 25-24, eventually fending off Augustana for a 29-27 win to even the match at 2-2.
In the final set, Augie saw a 7-4 advantage before Baldwin Wallace tied the game at 8-8. Three straight points reclaimed momentum for the Vikings as the team would hold a slight lead the rest of the way, hanging on for the two-point win.
Schultz again led the way with 11 kills, followed closely behind by Bolen with 10. The Vikings hit at a .245 percent clip on their attack attempts. Sellers paced the team with 10 digs, while Aiden Bond had nine. Degnan was the Vikings' assist leader with 32.
Augustana moves to 9-6 overall following the tri-match split. The Vikings will return to conference play for their next matchup against the Illinois Wesleyan Titans on March 11 in Bloomington, Ill.
