ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The Augustana Vikings volleyball team battled through five sets against the Millikin Big Blue on Tuesday night inside the Carver Center, falling in a hard-fought 3–2 contest.
After an opening service ace from Alexis Richards, Millikin would jump out to an early 4–1 lead before Mallory Coley broke through with a kill off a Leah Rizzo set to make it 4–2. After a brief Big Blue run, Coley struck again from the outside, followed by a Millikin service error to close the gap to 7–4. Elle Jones and Alita Folkening then hammered home back-to-back finishes to make it 10–7. After an ensuing 6-1 run by the Big Blue, which included Coley finding the floor again, Folkening would spark an Augie push. A kill by Carmela Carbone off an Abby Kirchner assist would bring it to 17–12. Following the Millikin response, Lucy Pufundt added two kills on a 4-1 Augie rally to trim the margin to 19–16. Coley connected on another from Rizzo to continue the rally, and back-to-back kills from Coley and Pufundt helped the Vikings close to 23–22. After trading points, Carbone sent one down and tied the set up at 24 apiece. The teams traded points late, with Jones finding two finishes and Rizzo sneaking a service ace to give the Vikings their first lead of the set, 28-27. Despite the rally getting the Vikings ahead 29-28, Millikin closed the frame with the final three points to take the set 31–29.
In the second, Millikin struck first with two quick kills before a Coley finish got Augustana on the board off an assist from Rizzo to make it 2–1. After a Big Blue point, the Vikings answered with a kill from Coley, and a Millikin service error evened the score at 3–3. Pufundt and Richards answered the ensuing Millikin attack with their own finishes, and after a visitor attack error, Augie gained a 6–5 lead. Trading attack errors, the Big Blue then pieced together a stretch of 9 straight points before Grace Gustafson snapped it with a kill off a Rizzo assist to make it 15–8. From there, the Vikings caught fire. Folkening and Coley delivered key kills in a 6-2 run, capped off by a Lanah Queckboerner finish that made the score 17-13. Following a two-point response from the visitors, Augie would lead a 4–0 surge started by a Carbone kill and backed up by a Queckboerner ace. Off a Queckboerner assist, Jones would close the gap to 19–17. The Augustana core of Folkening, Richards, and Coley would answer every Millikin score; however, the Big Blue secured the 25–21 set win.
The Vikings quickly settled in the third set as Coley delivered a kill from Rizzo to open. Millikin would answer with three points before the Vikings rattled off six straight points off Millikin errors and a Coley finish. Millikin would find their footing and close the gap 7-6 before back-to-back kills from Richards and Carbone. Kirchner would add an ace to take a 10-6 lead. After two to two-to-one run by the Big Blue, Augustana would show its offensive attack as Kirchner would set up a Carbone kill. Carbone would then find herself directing the offense, setting up Richards, Jones, and Pufundt, who would hammer down three straight kills, making the score 15-8. Jones would add another, and Rizzo would ace a serve to push the lead 17-9. Millikin would answer with an 8-3 run to close the gap 20-17. A Carbone kill would spark a 5-2 run late, and Folkening would find the floor off an assist from Delaney Higgens to take the set 25-19.
Augustana's momentum would carry into the fourth set, opening with a service error from Millikin. However, they would respond with a 5-1 run to take a 5-2 lead. Jones would finish an assist from Kirchner to respond before Millikin gained two more, ultimately making the lead 7-3. Jones would find the floor again before two attack errors by Millikin closed the gap 7-6. The visitors would find themselves on a 7-2 run, taking a 14-8 lead. Folkening would answer for the Vikings, followed by a Kacie Swanson ace to make it 14-10. Millikin would answer with an offensive attack, answered by a 3-1 run by the Vikings, which saw two Big Blue attack errors and Richards finding the hardwood once again. With Millikin leading 18-14, Augie would rattle off a 6-1 run. Jones would be the one to spark it off, an assist from Kirchner, followed by Folkening kill, Carbone ace, and another Folkening kill off another feed from Kirchner. Pufundt would finish a kill from Katelyn Turley, followed up by an ace from Rizzo flipping the score 20-19 in favor of the Vikings. After trading blows late in the set, Pufundt would tie the score at 25 apiece before back-to-back attacking errors from the visitors sent the match to a fifth set.
Millikin would find success early taking a 4-2 lead before an attacking error followed by a Kirchner ace tied it 4-4. Millikin would answer with a 5-0 run before siding out on a service error, and a Pufundt kill would make the score 9-6. After trading three-point runs setting the score at 12-9, Millikin would close with a 3-1 run taking the final set 15-10.
Augustana saw several strong performances across the board in the five-set battle. Coley led the Vikings with 12 kills while hitting .219 and adding a block assist, followed closely by Richards and Jones, who each tallied 11 kills apiece. Pufundt and Folkening both provided steady production with nine kills each, with Folkening posting an efficient .500 attack percentage and contributing three blocks at the net. Carmela Carbone added six kills, three aces, and three block assists to fill the stat sheet, while setter Kirchner orchestrated the offense with 26 assists, seven digs, and two service aces. Rizzo also set the tone offensively recording 19 assists and three aces. Defensively, Richards led with 17 digs, Pufundt followed with nine. Queckboerner had two kills, an ace, and four digs, while Swanson contributed five digs and three service aces.
Augustana will return to action on Friday, Oct. 17, in a road matchup with non-conference Benedictine.
