ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings women's volleyball team will face a "win-and-in" situation on Wednesday, November 6 when they host the Carthage Firebirds for the final CCIW regular season match of the season. The Vikings can clinch a CCIW Tournament berth with a victory on Wednesday or a Carroll loss vs. North Park.
Augustana currently sits 10-17 on the season and 2-5 in the CCIW. The team recently fell on the road to North Park last Friday by a score of 3-0. The home team Vikings claimed the first set by double figures before squeaking out a 31-29 victory in the second. North Park wrapped up the match with a win in the third.
Emily Schipper led the team with seven kills and also collected 10 digs to give her over 1,000 for her career. She is the sixth player in Augustana program history to accumulate both 1,000 career kills and digs.
Carthage enters Wednesday with a 14-11 overall record and 5-2 mark in the CCIW. The Firebirds recently had a two-match winning streak come to an end in a 3-0 loss to No. 17 UW-Platteville on Saturday in Chicago. Carthage earned its second straight conference victory on Wednesday against Wheaton, led by three players with 10 kills apiece. The Firebirds are over .500 in both home and neutral-site matches this season, but hold a losing record on the road with a record of 4-5. The team's last road contest was the win over Wheaton.
The Vikings are 16-39 all-time vs. the Firebirds, but won the most recent meeting last season in five sets in Rock Island. The victory was the first for Augie over Carthage since 2003.
With a win, Augustana will wrap up the No. 6 seed in the upcoming CCIW Tournament. The Vikings can still clinch a spot in the tournament with a loss, but would need a Carroll loss vs. North Park to get them in. In an event of a three-way tie between Augustana, Wheaton, and Elmhurst, the Vikings would get in due to the sets won tiebreaker. With a Carroll win, the tiebreaker would be come a four-way split and the nod would go to Wheaton.
Start time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
