ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team defeated North Park on Wednesday, besting the Vikings 3-1 by set scores of 22-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-22.
Augie held a slight advantage for much of the opening set, leading by as much as three points at 16-13, but a 7-3 rally allowed North Park to take the lead at 20-19. Augustana scored two points to reclaim the lead at 21-20, but North Park clinched set one with a late 5-1 run to win 25-22. Augustana fell behind 7-3 early in the second game, but surged back to cut it to one. The two teams exchanged points before the road team went ahead 18-15 midway through the set with a 5-2 burst. The Vikings' offense sprung to life, scoring nine of the following 11 points to force game-point at 24-20. North Park's two late scores were insufficient, as a combination block from Sean Carlson and Nick Hanusiak on the visiting Vikings' attack tied the match at 1-1.
Augustana jumped out to a 10-5 lead in set three, growing their margin to 16-9 to force an NPU timeout. North Park inched closer, doubling up the Vikings 6-3 over the next nine points, but had their comeback attempt snuffed out with Augie claiming six of the final seven points to take it by a score of 25-16. In the fourth and final game, the Vikings' offense continued to roll, establishing another early 10-5 lead. The visitors continued to claw back, shrinking the Augie advantage to as little as two at 18-16. The two teams continued to swap scores before Augie took a four-point lead at 23-19. North Park scored back-to-back points to make it 23-21, but Augustana won the series with a late 2-1 surge.
The Vikings recorded 44 kills and hit at a .131 clip, led by Aidan Bolen with 13 kills and Carlson with 10. Max Sellers secured 19 digs for a match-high, notably eclipsing 500 in his Augie career. Matthew Degnan paced Augie with 38 assists.
With the win, Augustana improves to 12-11 overall, 2-7 in conference. The team will play their final regular season match against the No. 9 ranked Carthage Firebirds on Saturday in Kenosha, Wis.
