By: Peter Borkowski
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Augustana College women's volleyball (8-13, 1-5) took a break from conference play this weekend to host the Augustana Invitational. The Vikings kicked off the invite on Friday night with a doubleheader against Monmouth (7-14, 4-3) and UW-La Crosse (10-14, 1-3). The Vikings dispatched Monmouth in a quick three sets before a close match with La Crosse also went the way of Augustana, 3-1.
GAME ONE - AUGIE 3-0 MON
Inside the Box Score
How it Happened
First Set
Monmouth came out of the gates swinging and scored the first four points of the match. A service error then started a 3-1 Augustana run that pulled the Vikings within two of the Scots and, after trading a few points, another pair of Augie points made it a one-point deficit at 7-6.
The difference stayed around one until two Monmouth errors tied the game at 9-9. Monmouth briefly built a 12-10 lead, but Augustana responded with a 3-1 run of their own to force another tie at 12-12. Augie also tacked on another pair of points to also take a two-point lead and cause a Monmouth timeout.
A Scot attack error and Augie block after the timeout enlarged the Viking lead to four, 16-12. But the Scots eventually used a four–point run to tie the game at 17-all and force an Augustana timeout. Out of the break, the teams split the next four points to work to a 19-19 tie. From there, back-to-back Monmouth points put them in front by a pair and led to another Augie timeout. Elle Jones got a kill to shrink the gap to one after the timeout before another pair of Monmouth scores made it 23-20.
Three straight Viking points knotted things up at 23-23, causing Monmouth's second timeout of the set. But Augie's momentum continued after the pause, with a Lichthardt kill and Sommesi ace sealing set one 25-23 in favor of the home squad.
Second Set
Set two was a tight affair at first as the teams tied each other at 1-1, 3-3, and 4-4. Augustana then found some breathing room thanks to a Monmouth attack error and an Alyse Murphy-Spiteri block giving them a 6-4 lead. After a Scot score, a trio of Augie points grew their lead to four, 9-5. Consecutive points from both teams moved the score to 11-7 and led to a Scot timeout.
Following the break, Monmouth rattled off a 5-1 spree to even set two at 12-12. Both teams then used a 3-1 run to create a 15-15 tie and cause an Augie timeout. The Viking timeout proved incredibly fruitful, as Augie took five of the first six points out of the break to build a 20-16 advantage.
Three Monmouth points in a row quickly negated that lead however and Augustana called a timeout to try and slow the Scots. Augie did just that out of the pause, scoring three consecutive points to make it 23-19 and force the Scots to call a timeout. Augie's run continued past the timeout as they scored the final two points of the set to win it 25-19 and take a 2-0 match lead.
Third Set
Augustana carried their set two momentum over to the start of set three, jumping out to a 7-2 lead and forcing an early Scot timeout. Monmouth found their footing out of the break, scoring three in-a-row to pull within two of Augie. The Vikings quickly regained the momentum however, taking six of the next seven scores to build a 13-6 advantage.
Set three then became a back-and-forth affair with the teams swapping single scores and two-point sprees. This continued until Augustana hit set point at 24-17. A service error prolonged Monmouth's match hopes, but Alita Folkening put the match away with a kill as Augie won the set 25-18 and the match 3-0.
GAME TWO - AUGIE 3-1 UWL
Inside the Box Score
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Sommesi led the Vikings in kills with 12, but Carmela Carbone was right behind her with 11.
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Mincheva had another stellar game distributing the ball, serving up 25 assists. Mincheva was also excellent at the service line, collecting five aces.
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At the net, Carbone had 3.5 total blocks while Kelsey Mathews had three.
How it Happened
First Set
Augie was firing on all cylinders to start the match as they took a quick 5-0 lead. The Eagles did respond though, scoring four straight to pull within one and force an early Augie timeout. After the break, the Eagles' run continued with another two points to jump ahead of Augustana, 6-5. Augie did tie the set at 6-6 before another tie was reached at 7-7.
The Vikings broke the latest tie with a trio of points to gain a 10-7 lead before a 5-2 La Crosse run led to another tie at 12-12. After Augustana briefly retook the lead, the Eagles rattled off five straight points to take a 17-13 lead and cause a Viking timeout. After splitting the first six points following the break, the Eagles rode a five-point jaunt all the way to set victory, defeating Augie 25-16.
Second Set
Set two started with ties at 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3 before Augie built a multi-point lead at 5-3. The Vikings held onto the lead until La Crosse eventually tied things up at 7-7. From there, the Eagles got a pair of blocks to take a 9-7 lead. Augustana would come back to tie the set at 9-9 before another four ties were had and it was 13-13. Consecutive Eagle attack errors gave the Vikings a two-point, 15-13 lead, leading to a La Crosse timeout.
Two straight Eagle points after the timeout made it 15-all and the teams also tied each other at 16-16 and 17-17. Three Viking points in-a-row put them on top 20-17 and caused a second La Crosse timeout. It was all Eagles after the break as they took the next three scores to create a 20-20 tie and force a Viking timeout.
Following another tie at 21-21, the Vikings took three of the next four points to reach set point, 24-22. Alyssa Millan ended the set on the following serve with an ace to win Augie set two, 25-22, and even the match at 1-1.
Third Set
Similar to set one, Augie jumped out to a 5-0 lead. This time they extended the opening run to 6-0 and forced an early Eagle timeout. The squads swapped points out of the break until the scoreboard read 9-3. Augustana struck a second time in-a-row to bump their lead up to 10-3. Augie would then work their way to a 10-point advantage at 15-5 thanks to a five-point run after La Crosse grabbed a pair of scores.
While the Eagles ended Augie's run, the Vikings managed to add another pair of scores to their total, leading to an Eagle timeout. Augustana's lead stood around 10 until a La Crosse run of four points brought them within six and led to an Augie timeout. Augustana responded to the timeout with three straight points to make it 21-12. Following their own service error, the Vikings scored on the next three volleys to reach set point. La Crosse prolonged the set with two kills and an Augie attack error, but Sommesi ended the set with a kill to finalize the score at 25-16 and put Augustana in front in the match, 2-1.
Fourth Set
Neither team found any breathing room to start set four as they tied each other three times until a pair of Viking miscues put La Crosse up 6-4. The Eagles remained in front just a point or two until a La Crosse run built them a four-point lead at 10-6 and caused an Augie timeout.
Following the timeout, Augustana would pull back within one at 11-10, but La Crosse pulled away again thanks to three consecutive points and forced another Viking timeout. Augie started to claw back after the break, getting as close as two points multiple times but La Crosse would always strike again to maintain their lead, which eventually grew back to four points at 19-15
Back-to-back Augie scores cut the difference in half before the Eagles responded with two scores of their own to reestablish a four-point lead. Once more however, Augie got within two at 21-19, leading to a La Crosse timeout. After the timeout, a 3-1 Viking spree finally equalized the game at 22-all. A Taryn Jones ace gave Augie the lead before Lichthardt delivered the Vikings match point with a kill. Matthews then ended the match with a kill that won them set four 25-22 and the match, 3-1.
Up Next
Augie concludes the Augustana Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 24, with a 2 p.m. match against Central. It will also be Senior Day for the Vikings.
Follow the Vikings
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Augustana women's volleyball by following the team on Twitter at @augieathletics, on Facebook at Augustana Women's Volleyball, and on Instagram at @augie_wvb.
