ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team dropped to the No. 12 Loras Duhawks on Wednesday in three sets with set scores of 25-15, 25-18, and 25-19.

Both teams went back and forth with points to tie three times before four consecutive points from Loras gave them the early advantage in the opening set.. Augie followed with four of its own to even the game at seven apiece and once more at 8-8. The Duhawks converted a seven-point run to stretch the game to 15-8 and held the advantage for the remainder of the set to take the first set by 10 points.

In the second set, Loras secured the first three points to obtain the early lead. A kill by Alexander Sulewski put Augie within two and the team saw this gap again after a service ace by Cole Clarke to make the score 7-5. The Duhawks pulled away after three consecutive points stretched the differential to five and maintained the lead the rest of the way to take the second set.

The teams drew even three times in the third set before three points from the Duhawks made a 9-6 score. Augie got as close as two after a service ace by Tom Lamb, but Loras pulled away late in the set with a five-point run to make a 23-16 score. The Vikings collected a 3-0 spurt to get within four, but could not catch up as Loras grabbed the final two points of the match.

Clarke led the team with 12 kills, while Colin Schaefer notched 29 assists and Max Sellers had 11 digs. 

With the loss, Augie moves to 10-6 on the season and will hit the road on Saturday, March 1 to battle Illinois Wesleyan.