MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – In a battle of the top two volleyball teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Augsburg was able to take advantage of its home court advantage in a four-set victory, 28-26, 25-23, 17-25, 25-16, over Gustavus on Wednesday night. The loss snaps a 16-match win streak within MIAC play and an eight-match win streak overall, dropping the Gusties to 12-3 overall and 3-1 in the league. Augsburg improves to 10-6 overall and 4-0 in the MIAC.
“Augsburg played relentlessly,” Head Coach Rachelle Sherden said. “Very strong defense and attacked our block a lot on defense. They brought a lot of energy and grit. We played scrappy defense, however we made too many unforced errors on offense and serving. I felt like we couldn’t totally get into a groove and hold our momentum when we did go on runs.”
In the opening set, Gustavus trailed for a majority of the match until taking a 17-16 lead. The Gusties increased their lead to 22-19, but the Auggies rallied to tie the score three times at 22, 23, and 24. Augsburg gained the lead and held set-point three times and on the third time was able to get the kill for the 28-26 victory.
The second set was a back and forth battle from start to finish with nine ties and five lead changes. The Gusties seemed to be in control midway through the set, going on a 10-4 run for their largest lead at 18-14. Gustavus maintained a four-point lead at 20-16, but that’s when the Auggies started a 7-2 run to take a 23-22 lead and force two Gustie timeouts in the process. Augsburg had an attack error after the break to tie the game, but was able to secure the win with the final two points of the set.
Augsburg rolled its momentum into the third set with a 7-4 advantage, but the Gusties showed some life and rallied with a 7-2 spree for an 11-9 lead. The Auggies rolled off five straight points to regain a 14-11 advantage, but the Gusties had another answer and dominated the rest of the set, outscoring the Auggies 14-3 for a 25-17 win.
The home squad settled down in the fourth set by taking an early 4-1 lead and never trailed the rest of the way. Gustavus came within one point on three occasions, but six unanswered points midway through the set gave Augsburg a big enough lead to hold on for a nine-point decision.
“The number one thing that we can take away from this match is that we need to get back into the gym tomorrow and work hard because we still have some areas of needed improvement that were exposed tonight,” Sherden said.
Three Gusties reached double figure kills led by Lauren Hanson (So., Redwood Falls, Minn.) with 16. Hanna Albers (So., St. Louis, Mo.) added 15 kills and a team-high 27 digs for a double-double, while Shaefer Rupar (Jr., Merrill, Wis.) tallied 12 kills. Nora Holtan (So., Rochester, Minn.) also had a double-double with 52 assists and 12 digs.
Gustavus next travels to St. Thomas for a 5 p.m. match Saturday.