WHITEWATER, Wis. – The Augustana Vikings women's volleyball team closed play at the UW–Whitewater Invite on Friday afternoon, dropping a 3–0 decision to UW–Stout 25–16, 25–21, 25–17.
 
Augustana came out hot in the first set behind early kills from Lanah Queckboerner and Mallory Coley, followed by an ace from Alexis Richards to take a 3–0 lead. UW–Stout responded with a 4-0 run, Coley and Queckboerner responded before the Vikings put together a 4-0 run behind kills from Richards, Coley, and a Queckboerner ace to take a 9-6 lead. UW-Stout would respond with a 10-1 run, Augustana pulled within 14–17 after a kill from Lucy Putfundt, ace from Richards and a block by Alita Folkening and Queckboerner, but Stout closed on an 8–2 run to claim the opening frame 25–16.
 
Set two saw another competitive start as the Vikings battled back from an early 7–2 deficit. Carmela Carbone, Folkening, and Carli Udovich provided steady offense in a 6-3 run that closed the gap to 8-11. Leah Rizzo contributed big assists in the run, after both teams traded errors and a few UW-Stout kills they would claim 17-12 lead. Richards would get a kill off a Carmela Carbone assist to spark a 6-1 Vikings run that saw a kill from Elle Jones, a Rizzo ace, and back-to-back Richards and Udovich kills to tie the set 18-18. The Blue Devils pulled away late on a 7-3 run, taking the set 25–21 despite strong defensive play from Folkening and Udovich at the net.
 
In the third, Augustana again opened strong with kills from Udovich, Queckboerner, and Kirchner, to a 5-5 tie. A kill from Queckboerner and ace from Rizzo would shut down a Blue Devils 3-0 run to tie again a 7-7. UW–Stout, however, found its rhythm to push to 12-7 lead, despite kills from Udovich and Coley with took the match score to 11-14 in favor of the Blue Devils. Grace Lichthardt captured an ace in a 4-1 Vikings run that brought them within two. Late kills from Carbone and Richards kept the Vikings within reach, but the Blue Devils secured the match with a 25–17 victory.
 
Udovich led Augustana with seven kills hitting .417 for the match, while Queckboerner added six kills an ace and two assists. Richards added five kills and two service aces, while Carbone and Coley each added four kills. Rizzo would lead the Vikings with 14 assists while also leading with nine digs, followed by Kirchner with six digs and nine assists.

The Vikings move to 11–13 overall and continue play at home Wednesday, Oct. 29, facing North Park for Camper Night.