BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings women's volleyball team saw their comeback effort fall short on Wednesday, falling in a five-set thriller to the Illinois Wesleyan Titans.
After the Vikings held a small margin for a good chunk of the opening set, the Titans used a late 8-1 run to flip a two-point deficit into a six-point advantage. Illinois Wesleyan held on to their lead to win the first game by a score of 25-21. The Titans remained in command of the contest, taking set two by a final of 25-15 to push their lead in the match to 2-0.
The Titans grabbed three of the first four points in set three, but the Vikings used the first of several scoring outbursts to claim an early advantage at 7-3. The two teams alternated rally wins until Augustana broke away from a 10-7 game with three consecutive scores to double the differential. The margin hovered around five points for a few more rallies, but a final 11-2 run from Augie helped seal their first win of the match and force a fourth frame. Five different Vikings registered at least one kill during the final scoring spurt.
A back-and-forth fourth set followed, with each team threatening to pull away at different moments of the game. Augie jumped out to the early advantage at 11-6 and maintained separation through a score of 16-12 before Illinois Wesleyan rattled off six points in a row to claim a two-point cushion. The Titans' lead then grew to three at 20-17, but the Vikings stormed back to tie and eventually race out in front, fueled by three consecutive blocks from
Emily Schipper,
Grace Gustafson, and
Jenny Dunder. Four straight kills down the stretch from
Jaden Julius accounted for the team's final points in a 25-22 victory to force a fifth and deciding set.
Illiinois Wesleyan jumped out to a fast start in the fifth, scoring four of the game's first five points. Facing an 8-3 hole, the Vikings crept back into the contest with a 4-1 scoring run to cut the margin to three at 10-7. Five straight scores from Augie followed thanks to three errors from the home team and kills from Julius and Schipper to put the Vikings out in front for the first time in the set. Augustana faced match point twice with a 14-12 point lead and once again at 15-14, but the Titans used one final push to secure the 17-15 set win to claim the match.
Julius led Augustana offensively with 19 kills, followed by Schipper with 13. As a team, the Vikings boasted 16 total blocks, with Dunder and Julius both a part of four each. Five different members tallied double-digit digs, while
Amelie Baehr-Ross notched 37 assists.
With the loss, the Vikings move to 10-4 on the season and 1-2 in CCIW play. The team will be back in action Friday to face both Grinnell and Loras in Dubuque, Iowa.
