ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team travels south for a pair of non-conference battles on Friday, February 9, where they will face off against the Fontbonne Griffins and the Rockford Regents. 

The Vikings sit at 7-1 on the season and return after snatching three victories in Wisconsin last weekend at the St. Norbert tournament, where they played against Olivet, UW-Stevens Point, and St. Norbert. Augie's most recent match on Sunday was against St. Norbert, which concluded in three sets with scores of 25-22, 25-22, and 25-20. In the first set, the Vikings grabbed an early advantage with a 2-1 score. The Green Knights tied the game at 18-18 and again at 20-20 before Augie scored three consecutive points to take a 23-20 advantage. A kill by Garrett McNelis closed out the first set 25-22.

Augie started the second set with a block to secure an early lead. Both teams tied four additional times until two back-to-back kills from the Vikings turned the lead back in their favor at 9-7. Augie stretched their lead out to as many as seven and maintained its lead before a kill by Ty Heater closed out the second set with a final score of 25-22.

In a back-and-forth third set, both teams tied two times before a two-point run by Augie to make a 6-4 score. The Vikings slowly increased their distance from the Green Knights, moving the gap to six points to make the score 21-15. Aidan Bolen closed out the final set with a kill from Matthew Degnan for a final score of 25-20. 

The Vikings' first match on Friday will be against the Fontbonne Griffins, who own an overall record of 2-5 and return to action after a 3-1 win against Rockford on Saturday. As a team, the Griffins hit .154, while Rockford hit .144. Sam McAlister led with 10 kills and Alex Gantt had 32 assists. Fontbonne has a 1-1 home record, with their last matchup concluding in a 3-0 victory over Culver-Stockton on Tuesday, January 30. Augie holds a 4-3 all-time record against Fontbonne, with their last matchup on February 11, 2023, resulting in a 3-0 loss for the Vikings. 

Augie's next contest will be against the Rockford Regents. The Regents are 1-4 on the season and enter the weekend after a 3-1 victory against Concordia-Chicago on Tuesday. As a team, Rockford hit .206, with Marcin Hoffman leading with 14 kills and Elijah Mosher with 35 assists, while their opponent hit .169. This will be the Regents' first neutral-site match this season, but they currently have a 1-2 away record, with their last road battle being against Concordia-Chicago. The Vikings hold a 1-0 all-time record over Rockford, with their last meeting being on April 3, 2023, which concluded in a 3-0 sweep for Augie. 

First serve is slated for 3 p.m. on Friday. Live stream can be found here.