ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team fell to the No. 8 North Central Cardinals in five sets on Saturday.

After dropping the opening set by a score of 25-16, the second started with an 8-3 run by the Vikings. The Cardinals tied the game at 11 and both teams evened the score two more times before a kill by Garrett McNelis and an attack error by North Central earned Augie a two-point advantage. Both teams continued to draw even but the Vikings fought back from set point at 28-27 with four of the final five scores to even the match with a 31-29 win. North Central answered with a 25-21 win in the third set to move the match to four sets to regain a 2-1 advantage overall. 

In the fourth, both teams tied four times until an attack error by North Central started a 7-2 run for the Vikings to find a five-point gap. The Cardinals got within one on six different occasions, but Ben Schultz wrapped up the fourth set with a kill from Colin Schaefer to force a fifth set. 

North Central grabbed an early two-point advantage in the final set but a kill by Aida Bolen tied the game at 4-4. Both teams evened the score three times before Augie took a 10-7 advantage and forced a North Central timeout. The Cardinals overtook the Vikings after an 8-2 run to conclude the set with a final score of 15-12.

Bolen led the Vikings with 16 kills, a service ace, and a block, while Schultz followed with 10 kills and six blocks. Schaefer had 44 assists and Max Sellers had 14 digs to lead the Vikings.

With the loss, the Vikings drop to 13-2. The team will remain at home as they host Illinois Wesleyan on Wednesday, March 6 for a mid-week conference battle.