Augustana College

Box Score

The Augustana volleyball team had a golden opportunity to knock off the top-ranked team in the nation. But it was the Concordia University, St. Paul Golden Bears who withstood the Vikings' upset bid to claim a four-set victory Friday night at the Elmen Center. Set scores were 29-27, 25-22, 18-25, 25-19.

Augustana dropped to 18-9 overall and 10-4 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference following its third-straight loss while Concordia improved to 26-1 overall and 15-0 in the NSIC after winning its 26th-straight match.

The first set proved to be a critical moment in the match. Holding a 10-8 lead, Augustana went on an 8-2 run to open up an 18-10 advantage. The Vikings later held a 21-14 lead and appeared headed for first-set victory. But Concordia stormed back with an 8-0 run to seize a 22-21 lead.

The remainder of the set went back and forth with six ties. Three times Augustana served for match point but the Golden Bears fought back. Then, with the score tied 27-27, CU got back-to-back kills from Whitney Meierotto and Ellie Duffy to claim the set.

The second set was just as close and again Augustana had its chance to win it. The Vikings led a majority of the set before falling behind 20-19. Following a Viking timeout, Augustana scored three straight points to take a 22-20 lead.

Again, the Golden Bears answered. Emily Palkert slammed 3 kills in a 5-0 run to close out the set.

The Vikings did not give Concordia a chance to come back in the third set. The set was tight until Augustana pulled away down the stretch. With the score tied 14-14, Augustana scored 4 of the next 6 points to take an 18-16 edge. Following a CU point, the Vikings rattled off 3 unanswered points to increase the lead to 21-17.

Then, Ellen Andrews took over for Augie. She smashed a pair of kills and teamed up with Blythe Johnson on a block to put the Vikings ahead 24-18. Johnson and Rebecca Hindman then blocked Palkert on set point to make it a 2-1 match.

The Vikings got off to a good start in the fourth set, opening a 10-6 lead. But Concordia countered with a 7-0 run to take a 13-10 lead. The Golden Bears pushed the lead to five at 19-14. But Augustana responded with a 5-1 rally to narrow the margin to 20-19.

Meierotto then pounded 3 kills as CU scored the final 5 points in the match.

Augustana, which was playing without injured starter Beth Talcott, was led by Andrews' 17 kills. She had just 2 errors to finish with a .441 attack percentage. Cayla Schroeder and Kati Newgard joined her in double figures with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Schroeder completed the double-double with 18 digs. Hindman, who started in place of Talcott, added 15 digs, while libero Jenna Hultgren had 13. Lisa Hoegh collected 47 assists.

Duffy paced Concordia with 18 kills, while Meierotto and Palkert each had 15. Meierotto also had a match-high 21 digs.

Augustana concludes its weekend homestand on Saturday by taking on St. Cloud State in a 4 p.m. match at the Elmen Center.