LISLE, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team went 1-1 on Monday, defeating the UW-Stevens Point Pointers by a score of 3-1 before taking a 3-0 loss against the Benedictine Eagles.
The Vikings kicked off the first set against UW-Stevens Point with the first three points to secure the early lead. A three-point run from the Pointers later moved the scoring difference to one on two different occasions, but service errors from UW-Stevens Point allowed Augie to maintain the upper hand. The Vikings collected their largest lead of six after a kill from Cole Clarke made it a 17-11 game. Another attack from Clarke and a service ace by Colin Schaefer concluded the first set 25-21 for the Vikings. The Pointers answered with a 25-21 set two victory to even the match at one win apiece.
Augie secured the first two points of the third set after a service error from UW-Stevens Point and an ace from Sean Carlson. The Vikings reached a seven-point gap after four attack errors by the Pointers. Ben Schultz notched the 25-18 victory for Augie following a kill from Schaefer to help the team lead 2-1 in the matchup.
In the fourth set, the Pointers obtained the first point, but Augustana quickly followed after a good attack from Carlson. Both teams tied 23 times in the set with neither team seeing a greater lead than three. Augie notched the final three points after a kill from Schultz and back-to-back errors by UW-Stevens Point to win 31-29.
As a team, Augie hit .191 while holding the Pointers to .093. Carlson led the team with 18 kills and three aces. Schaefer notched 43 assists, while Max Sellers had 12 digs, and Tom Lamb blocked four attempts.
In the battle against Benedictine, the Vikings grabbed the first three points in the first set but the Eagles followed with four of their own to snatch the advantage. A good attack by Schultz evened the score once more until Benedictine put up two more to take the 6-4 lead. Another kill by Schultz started a six-point run to overtake the Eagles 15-12. Benedictine moved the game back to a tie after four consecutive points and finished the set with the final three points to take the game 25-20.
The Vikings collected the first three points once again in the second set before both teams drew even two times. Four consecutive points for the Eagles put them back on top with a score of 8-4. Augie trailed for the remainder of the set and fell by a score of 25-17 to make an overall score of 2-0 in Benedictine's favor.
In the third set, the Vikings secured the early lead after a 5-2 run until the Eagles put up five of their own to overtake Augustana by a score of 7-5. Augie snatched the advantage after a three-point run with a kill from Garrett McNelis making a 12-11 score. Both teams drew even six additional times before Benedictine pulled away after three consecutive points to take the final set 25-21.
Carlson led the matchup with nine kills, while Schaefer had 26 assists and eight digs.
With the split record, Augie moves to 3-1 on the season and will return to action on Saturday, January 25 to host Greenville and Aurora in the Carver Center.
