KENOSHA, Wis. -- The Augustana Vikings men's volleyball team fell to the No. 6 Carthage Firebirds on Saturday in four sets with set scores of 26-24, 20-25, 12-25, and 20-25.
In the first set, both teams traded points until Augie collected five consecutive points to take a 8-4 lead. An attack error by Carthage moved the gap to five at 11-6 and the team found this difference twice more. The Firebirds converted a 6-2 run to even the set at 15 apiece and both teams drew even two times before the Vikings pulled away after a service error by Carthage and a service ace by Ben Schultz. The Firebirds found the next two to tie once more, but kills by Tom Lamb, Cole Clarke, and Ryan Huntington secured the advantage 22-19 for Augie. Carthage stormed back to even the score at 24, but the Vikings obtained the final two points after a kill and service ace by Clarke to take the first set.
Carthage constructed the early lead after a 6-3 run in the second set until Augie evened the score following two errors and a kill by Clarke to tie at seven apiece. The teams established themselves in another deadlock, but the Firebirds stretched the game to 11-8 and held the upper hand for the remainder of the set to tie 1-1 overall in the match. In the third set, Carthage ran away with a 13-point victory to move in front 2-1.
In the fourth, the Vikings secured the first two points after a kill by Zach Moreano and an attack error by the Firebirds. A kill by Huntington moved the advantage to three and the team obtained this advantage twice more until Lamb stretched the difference to four. The Vikings saw this gap two more times after kills by Clarke. Carthage got within one on two different occasions before evening the score at 12-12 and again at 20-20. The Firebirds collected the final five points to take the matchup 3-1.
As a team, Augie hit .157 percent, while their opponent hit .350 percent. Huntington led the team with 12 kills, while Colin Schaefer notched 35 assists and Max Sellers and Moreano had 11 digs apiece.
With the loss, the Vikings conclude the regular season with a 12-13 record and 2-8 in conference play. The team will take on Carthage again on Wednesday in the CCIW Tournament semifinals.
