ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team picked up a pair of wins on Saturday to move their win streak to eight matches, defeating the visiting Fontbonne Griffins and Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks each by a score of 3-1.
The Vikings' first match was against Fontbonne, winning with set scores of 25-20, 27-29, 25-16, 25-19. The first set started with five lead changes until back-to-back errors from the Griffins and a service ace from Aidan Bolen stretched the lead to 7-5. The Vikings increased the gap to as many as six, using an 8-4 run to make the score 15-9. Augie maintained their advantage through the remainder of the set, with Bolen closing it out with a kill from Matthew Degnan to secure a 25-20 score.
In another neck-to-neck second set, Fontbonne found the early two-point lead but Augie returned the favor with two points of their own to make a 2-2 score. The teams continued to alternate scores, with neither holding a lead of more than three for the entire game. Fontbonne fought off set point twice to even the match at 1-1 with a 29-27 victory.
Augie started the third set with three consecutive points to snatch an early advantage before bringing the lead to five after an attack error from the Griffins. Augie continued to extend its cushion, stretching it out to nine after a kill by Ben Schultz to make it a score of 20-11. Ty Heater closed out the third set with a kill from Colin Schaefer to generate a nine-point gap and a final score of 25-16.
In the final set, Fontbonne secured the first point, but Augie followed with three straight to secure the upper hand. Augie maintained the advantage and eventually moved it to double figures at 17-7. The Vikings held off a late rally attempt from the Griffins to seal the match with a 25-19 win.
As a team, the Vikings hit .262, with Bolen and Schultz leading with 10 kills. Colin Schaefer and Degnan combined for 41 assists in the win.
In the first set against Illinois Tech, both teams tied four times before the Scarlet Hawks grabbed three consecutive points to move out in front. Illinois Tech held the lead until a kill by Schultz evened the score at 12-12. The score tied once more before a three point run starting with a kill by Schultz increased the gap to three with a score of 16-13. Augie maintained its separation and closed things out with a six-point win to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Illinois Tech answered with a 25-18 win in the second.
In the third set, Augie raced out to a 4-1 lead, later followed by a kill from Schultz to increase the gap to eight. The Scarlet Hawks got within three on two different occasions, but were unable to catch up as an assisted block by Heater and Bolen closed out the set with a final score of 25-21.
The fourth set started an early lead with a score of 3-1 for Illinois Tech, but the Vikings quickly evened the score at 3-3 moments later. Both teams tied three more times before a kill by Bolen started a 7-1 run to secure a six-point advantage. Augie held on to close out the match, winning by a score of 25-17.
As a team, Augie hit .244, while Illinois Tech hit .119. Bolen led with 23 kills and Schultz followed with 12. Degnan had 26 assists to lead the offensive attack, while Max Sellers anchored the defense with 18 digs.
