Augie-GVSU Box Score
Augie-Metro State Box Score
The Augustana volleyball team remained unbeaten on the season by winning a pair of 5-set thrillers during pool play at the Colorado Premier Challenge Friday in Denver, Colo. The 15th-ranked Vikings opened the day with a 25-20, 13-25, 25-16, 20-25, 17-15 victory over No. 7 Grand Valley State before capping the day with a 27-29, 25-18, 25-15, 23-25, 15-11 win over Metropolitan State.
Augustana, which improved to 6-0 on the year, won its three-team pool and will play in the championship bracket on Saturday. The Vikings, who are guaranteed at least of a fourth-place finish, will face either Cal State Chico or Florida Southern in their next match. Those two teams play late Friday night.
Against Grand Valley State, the match back and forth. In the fifth set, Augustana jumped out to an early 6-2 lead only to see the Lakers rally. GVSU scored 8 of the next 10 points to take a 10-8 lead. The Lakers increased the lead to 13-10 before Augustana scored 2 points in row to make the score 13-12.
Augustana then saved 3 match points. At 14-12, GVSU's Laura Reber committed a service error. On the next play, Augie's
Ellen Andrews and
Kati Newgard blocked Kaity Gormley to tie the score at 14-14.
Grand Valley State's Danielle Alexander pounded a kill to give the Lakers another match point, but again Andrews and Newgard blocked Gormley to tie the score at 15-15. Newgard followed with a kill to give the Vikings their first match point. Augie converted its chance when Gormley committed an attack error to end the match.
Beth Talcott paced Augustana with a match-high 21 kills and a .312 attack percentage. Newgard and Andrews joined her in double figures with 11 and 10 kills apiece. Talcott picked up a double-double with 12 digs.
Regan Tekavec added a match-high 14 digs, while
Cayla Schroeder added 11. Newgard had a hand in 6 of Augie's 9 blocks, while
Lisa Hoegh handed out 47 kill assists.
Against Metro State, the Vikings relied on a balanced offensive attack to hold off the Roadrunners. The Vikings hit .221 as a team while holding Metro State to a .173 attack percentage. In the fifth set, Metro State had 7 kills, but also 7 attack errors.
Newgard led the Vikings with 17 kills and a .452 attack percentage. Talcott was next with 16 kills, while Andrews and
Blythe Johnson each had 12. Schroeder rounded out the group with 11. She also had a match-high 20 digs for a double-double. Talcott added 13 digs for a double-double, while Hoegh had 59 assists and 10 digs. Tekavec chipped in with 15 digs.
The Vikings return to the court Saturday for their semifinial match at 9:30 a.m. The third-place match is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the championship match is set for 7 p.m.