CHICAGO, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team defeated the North Park Vikings on Saturday by a final score of 3-0.

Augie secured the first two points of the first set to gain an early lead and increased the gap to as many as 12 on two different occasions. An eight-point run generated a 19-7 score and a kill by Aidan Bolen later moved the lead back out to 12 at 22-10. Garrett McNelis closed out the first set with a kill from Matthew Degnan to win it by a final of 25-16. 

The home Vikings snatched the first point of the second set before Augie tallied three of their own to take the early lead. Augustana stretched its advantage out to as many as five two times, but North Park hung around late at 21-19. A 4-2 scoring run from Augie clinched set two by a final of 25-21. All four of the Vikings' final points came via kill, including the final two from Zach Moreano.

In the third, the two teams played a back-and-forth battle and found themselves tied at 15 points apiece. From there, Augustana broke away, securing six points in a row, but North Park answered with a 6-1 run of its own to cut the deficit to a point at 22-21. Augie faced match point three different times and eventually closed out the match with a 26-24 final. 

Aidan Bolen led the Vikings in the win with 10 kills, while Sean Carlson followed with eight. Colin Schaefer had 16 assists and Ben Schultz, Moreano, and Carlson all had two solo blocks. 

With the win, Augie improves to 15-2 on the season and 2-1 in conference play. The Vikings will stay on the road as they head to Dubuque, Iowa to battle No. 5 Loras on Wednesday, March 13.