Jenny Ewert sets up for a dig. She finished the night with a game-high 24 digs.
The Gustavus volleyball team suffered a five-set heartbreaker to Augsburg on Wednesday night in St. Peter, Minn. It was a back-and-forth affair the entire match with Gustavus winning sets one and three, and Augsburg taking sets two, four and five. Set scores for the match were 16-25, 25-21, 13-25, 28-26, and 15-7. The Gusties fall to 4-9 overall and 1-3 in the MIAC, while Augsburg improves to 9-8 overall and 2-2 in the MIAC.
“It was a good match between two evenly matched teams, both teams competed very well and I am very happy with how our girls played,” said Head Coach Rachelle Dosch. “Jenny stepped up big for us tonight. I am disappointed that we lost, but very happy with the way we played.”
The Gusties looked impressive in the opening frame, winning the set 25-16. Gustavus had 11 kills and just three errors, while Augsburg had 10 kills and eight errors. The Gusties made a 13-to-3 run to close the set, as Angela Ahrendt served seven straight points within the run.
In a tightly contested second set, Augsburg made 5-1 run with the scored tied 20-20 to win the set. The Auggies registered four aces in the last five points of the set. The Gusties rebounded in the third set, jumping out to 7-2 and 20-10 leads before taking the set handily 25-13.
Kelsey Florian and Angela Ahrendt go up for a block on Augsburg's Amanda Unze
Gustavus made a five-point comeback in the fourth, tying the set at 19-19 after being down 16-11. The Gusties had two match-point chances at 24-23 and 25-24, yet couldn’t put the Auggies away. Emily McCourt got the winning kill on an assist from Colleen Ourada to take the frame 28-26. Augsburg jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the fifth and deciding set and didn’t look back. Jessica Hilk and Denielle Johnson each contributed five-point serving runs on the way to a 15-7 set win.
Gustavus’s Jenny Ewert matched her season-high with 24 digs, while Dana Boerboom also recorded 24. Leading the team in kills was Boerboom with 13, followed by Ahrendt with 10. Malea Noennig and Kelsey Florian each recorded double-digit assists with 22 and 19, respectively. Augsburg’s Nikolene Miller and Amada Unze each recorded 12 kills to lead the Auggies, while Jessica Hilk had a team-high 21 digs. Gustavus finished the match with a .144 hitting percentage, while Augsburg finished at .112. The Gusties won the battle in attack errors (25-31) and service errors (6-12).
“We are looking forward to our last home match on Friday. A win in that match will be a great set-up for the long road-stand that follows,” added Dosch.
The Gusties will face Waldorf College in St. Peter, Minn. on Friday at 7:00 p.m. It is the last home match before the Gusties go on the road for their next nine games.