ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings stay in the Carver Center for a mid-week match against the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees on Wednesday, February 21.
The Vikings sit at 11-1 on the season and return after securing two victories at home on Saturday, February 17, where they played against Fontbonne and Illinois Tech. Augie's most recent match on Saturday was against Illinois Tech concluding in four sets with the Vikings coming out on top with a 3-1 final score.
In the first set of their final match of the day against the Scarlet Hawks, both teams tied four times before Illinois Tech grabbed a three-point advantage. A kill from Ben Schultz evened the score at 12-12 and tied once more before a three point run from the Vikings. Augie held on to the lead and closed things out with a six-point win with a final score of 25-21. Illinois Tech answered with a 25-18 win in the second set.
In the third set, Augie raced out to a 4-1 lead and later increased the gap to eight. Illinois Tech got within three on two different occasions, but was unable to catch up with an assisted block by Ty Heater and Aidan Bolen closing out the set 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 7-1 run secured a six-point gap, with Augie winning by a score of 25-17.
St. Ambrose owns a 1-14 overall record and enters the mid-week contest after a 3-1 loss to MSOE on Saturday. As a team, the Fighting Bees hit .114, while MSOE obtained .295. Jon Guch led with 12 kills and Anthony Anderson had 22 assists. St. Ambrose is 0-5 on the road this season, with their last away match being on Saturday, where they fell to No. 13 Saint Xavier by a final score of 3-0. The Vikings hold a 4-3 all-time record over St. Ambrose, with Augie grabbing a 3-1 victory in their most recent matchup on January 29 in Davenport. Bolen led Augie with 11 kills, with Schultz following with nine. Colin Schaefer had 25 assists, while Max Sellers had 14 digs and Heater had two solo blocks.
The first serve is slated for 7 p.m.
