ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings women's volleyball team earned a home win over the Monmouth Fighting Scots on Tuesday, winning by a score of 3-1.
After the visitors grabbed the opening point of the match, the Vikings rattled off five in a row and never trailed the rest of the way. The team quickly doubled up Monmouth at 10-5 and again at 12-6 before extending its advantage out to as many as eight with a score of 17-9. A 5-1 scoring spurt by the Scots late in the frame pulled them within three at 22-19, but consecutive kills from
Carmela Carbone and
Emily Schipper put the finishing touches on a 3-1 scoring run to close the frame.
Once again, the Scots tallied the first points of the second set, but Augie quickly claimed the lead as the two teams battled to a back-and-forth beginning. With the score tied at 13, the Vikings jumped out to a 16-13 advantage for the game's largest margin before countering two straight scores from Monmouth with the nine of the final 10 points won. During the 9-1 outburst,
Kira Nelson accounted for two kills and a service ace, while Carbone also added three kills. Augie's 25-16 win in set two moved its match lead out to 2-0. Monmouth answered with a 25-18 win in the third to push it to a fourth.
It was another tight battle in the fourth, with neither holding a lead of more than two points until Augustana broke a 12-12 tie with five of the next six tallies. Monmouth continued to inch back, pulling within one at 19-18 before using a 4-0 run to grab a 22-20 advantage. The Vikings countered with another 5-1 spurt, this time seeing two kills from
Emily Schipper down the stretch to help lead the team to the two-point win and seal the match victory by a score of 3-1.
Schipper led the offensive attack with 19 kills on .364 hitting, also leading the team in digs with 18.
Kylie Collachia finished one off her career high with 42 assists, while
Carli Udovich added nine kills and three blocks.
With the win, the Vikings improve to 7-8 on the season. The team will be back in action on Friday for a pair of matches against Dubuque and Carroll.
