ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team welcomes the Fontbonne Griffins and the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks on Saturday, February 17, 2024, where they will be partnering with The Gray Matters Collection to support mental health awareness.

The Vikings sit at 9-1 on the season and return after securing two victories in Missouri on Friday, February 9, where they played against Fontbonne and Rockford. Augie's most recent match on Friday was against Rockford, which concluded in three sets with scores of 25-17, 25-19, 25-20.  

In the first set, Rockford tied the set at 3-3, but two back-to-back kills from Augie regained the lead until another tie at five and seven points. The Vikings collected three consecutive points to grab the advantage at 10-7 and stretched the gap to as many as eight to make a 25-17 final score. The second started with a tie at 1-1, but Augie secured two additional points to grab a 3-1 lead. The two teams continued to play a back-and-forth frame with several ties, but the Vikings broke away following a deadlock at nine with seven scores in a row to bring it to a 16-9 cushion. Ryan Huntington closed out the second set at 25-19 with a kill from Micah Reaban.

In the final set, Augie started with a 5-0 run and held the lead throughout the set. A kill from Garrett McNelis stretched the lead out to seven with a score of 24-17, and Zachary Kampen eventually rounded out the win with a kill to make it 25-20.

The Vikings' first match on Saturday will be against the Fontbonne Griffins, who own an overall record of 3-7 and return to action after a loss to Illinois Wesleyan in three sets on Thursday. As a team, the Griffins hit .012, while Illinois Wesleyan hit .304. Cameron Graves and Josh Blomberg led with 4 kills and Alex Gantt had 9 assists. The Griffins are 1-5 on the road this season. Augie holds a 5-3 all-time record against Fontbonne, with their last matchup coming last weekend, resulting in a 3-0 sweep for the Vikings. 

Augie's next contest will be against the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks. The Scarlet Hawks are 2-6 on the season and enter the weekend after dropping to Wittenberg with a final score of 3-1 on Friday, February 9. As a team, Illinois Tech hit .197, with Michael Yurk leading with 16 kills and Andrew Diaz de Padilla with 35 assists. The Scarlet Hawks are 1-2 on the road this season with their last matchup on January 30, where they dropped to Judson, with a final score of 3-1. Both teams have won a match in their all-time series history, with Augie securing a 3-2 victory back on February 24, 2018. 

The first serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. against Fontbonne and 5 p.m. against Illinois Tech. All planning to attend the matches are encouraged to wear gray.