Box Score
The Augustana volleyball team enjoyed one of its best offensive nights of the season as the Vikings swept Bemidji State in 3 sets Friday night at the Elmen Center. The set scores were 25-10, 25-22, 25-15.
The 23rd-ranked Vikings improved to 12-6 overall and 5-1 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference while Bemidji State dropped to 6-12 overall and 2-4 in the NSIC.
Augustana hit .308 for the match, its second-best attack percentage of the season. The Vikings pounded 50 kills with only 14 errors on 117 attacks.
The Vikings' offense was clicking in the first and third sets as they hit .382 in the opening set and .359 in the final set. In those two sets, Augie had a combined 7 attack errors, which is how many the hosts had in the second set alone.
Augustana wasn't challenged in the first set, racing out to a 12-3 lead and never looking back.
Kati Newgard paced the Vikings with 6 of her 9 kills.
The second set was much closer. Bemidji State jumped out to an early 5-1 lead before Augustana rallied to tie the score 5-5. The Vikings began to pull away by taking 12-8 and 13-9 leads, but Bemidji State fought back. Trailing 14-12, the Beavers went on a 8-2 run to take a 20-16 lead. BSU later led 22-18 before Augustana rattled off 7 points in a row to claim the set.
Beth Talcott spearheaded the charge with 4 kills.
Bemidji State again jumped out to an early lead in the third set, grabbing a 5-1 edge. Augustana responded with a 6-0 run to take a 7-5 lead. Neither team led by more than 2 points until the score was tied 12-12. From there, Augustana closed out the set with a 13-3 run including the final 7 points of the match.
Cayla Schroeder was the spark plug this time, pounding 5 kills down the stretch.
Schroeder led all players with 12 kills, while Talcott joined her in double figures with 11. Both players recorded double-doubles as they each had 10 digs.
Brianna Erickson had a match-high 15 digs, while
Jenna Hultgren had 12. Setter
Lisa Hoegh also had a strong night as she dished out 41 assists to go along with 5 kills and a .625 attack percentage.
Blythe Johnson was a force at the net, having a hand in 7 of the Vikings' 9 blocks.
Heather Sampson and Nicole Olson led Bemidji State with 7 kills apiece.
Augustana will be back in action Saturday when the Vikings entertain No. 13 Minnesota Duluth. Match time is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Elmen Center.