ROCK ISLAND – The Augustana men's volleyball team fell to the Illinois Wesleyan Titans 3-1 on Saturday by set scores of 25-18, 25-15, 22-25, 25-23. 

In the opening set, the two teams deadlocked at a 4-4 score before the Titans pulled ahead 8-4 behind a four-point surge. Augie grabbed four of the next five service wins in response to cut the advantage to one, but seven straight points from Illinois Wesleyan ensued to give the road team an eight-point cushion midway through the game. Augustana scored five of the following six points to trim the advantage to four before Illinois Wesleyan snuffed out the comeback attempt with three straight to win game one. An early run from the Titans gave them an 11-6 lead to begin set two before eventually pushing it out to double figures at 22-12. After trading two points each, the Vikings lost with a set-point kill to go behind 2-0 in the match.

In set three, a back-and-forth start to the frame led to a 15-15 tie. The Titans appeared to break away from the deadlock, pulling away with a 5-2 scoring run. Augie launched a successful comeback, scoring six in a row before a 2-2 split propelled the Vikings to a 25-22 set win and extend the contest to a fourth game.

Another closely-fought start to the set brought the Vikings and Titans at 10-10 to begin the fourth. Illinois pulled ahead with a 3-0 run and maintained a lead until Augie leveled the score at 21-21. With three consecutive service wins, Illinois Wesleyan stopped Augie's momentum and forced match point. Two late Augustana points pushed the score to 24-23, but a kill from the Titans secured the match for the road team.

Sean Carlson led the Augustana attack with 11 kills, hitting at a .217 clip. Max Sellers was the team leader in digs with 19, while Matthew Degnan paced the Vikings in assists with 39.

With the loss, Augustana moves to 10-11 overall and 1-7 in the conference. The team will remain home for a rescheduled non-conference bout against Rockford on Monday, April 3 at 7:00 p.m.