Box Score

ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team defeated the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees on Wednesday in five sets. 

The first set started with both teams trading points before Augie grabbed three in a row to make it a 4-1 score. The Vikings continued to grow their lead and increased the gap to as many as nine, closing out the first set by that margin on a kill from Ben Schultz. In the second, St. Ambrose grabbed the first two points to obtain an early advantage until the Vikings tied the set at 8-8, with both teams tying an additional four times. A late rally from the visitors sealed a 26-24 win to even the match at one win apiece.

In a back-and-forth third set, the Fighting Bees found early success and held onto a lead until a kill by Aidan Bolen tied the game at 19-19. Both teams tied once more, but an attack error by St. Ambrose put Augie ahead, and a kill by Zach Moreano stretched the gap to two. After another deadlock at 23, the Bes fought off set point three times before Augustana secured three of the final four points to win by a score of 28-26.

St. Ambrose answered with a 32-30 win in set four, a game that saw 15 ties, to force a fifth and final set. 

Both teams tied twice to start the final set before Augie converted a 4-0 run to create a 6-2 score. St. Ambrose narrowed the deficit to one at 8-7, but three consecutive kills by the Vikings increased the difference back to four. A kill from Bolen closed out the match with Augie coming out on top with a final score of 15-10.

As a team, Augie hit .272, while holding St. Ambrose to just .193. Bolen led with 22 kills, with Moreano following with 13. Colin Schaefer tallied a career-high 42 assists, while Ty Heater added five blocks. 

With the win, the Vikings improve to 12-1 on the year and already match the program record for most wins in a season. The Vikings will stay at home for their final non-conference match against Clarke on February 29.