ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus volleyball team is set to host Augsburg College at 7 p.m. Wednesday for a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup. The Gusties enter the match with a 12-2 overall record and 3-0 mark in the MIAC, while the Auggies are 12-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
Live online coverage of tomorrow night’s match begins at 7 p.m.
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AUGSBURG LINKS: ROSTER | STATS
Last Saturday, the Gusties continued their winning ways by claiming their 12th consecutive victory, beating St. Catherine University in straight sets 27-25, 28-26 and 25-20 in St. Paul, Minn.
Taylor Trautman (Jr., Hutchinson, Minn.) and Alyssa Taylor (Sr., Trimont, Minn.) led the Gusties on the attack with 15 kills each. Trautman also tallied 11 digs for a double-double, while Taylor was most efficient on the kill with an attack percentage of .519 (15-27, 1 error).
Nora Holtan (Fy., Rochester, Minn.) also posted a double-double with a season-high 43 assists and 17 digs. Brittany Luethmers (Fy., Prior Lake, Minn.) led the back line with 27 digs.
Last season when the Gusties and Auggies met on Oct. 15 in Minneapolis, Augsburg won in straight sets 25-8, 26-24 and 25-17. Ashley Peper paced the Auggie offense with 12 kills. Taylor led the way for the Black and Gold with 11 kills.
Gustavus is winless in its last three matches against Augsburg and has been shutout in all three of those losses. The Gusties last beat the Auggies in 2011.
Augsburg is coming off a win and a loss at its own triangular last Saturday. The Auggies lost 3-2 to Carleton and then beat UW-River Falls 3-0. Ashley Peper recorded 31 kills in the two matches to set the school record for career kills. Peper also went over 1,000 digs in the triangular to become the third Augsburg player to ever accumulate 1,000-plus kills and 1,000-plus digs.
In the loss to Carleton, Peper led the Auggies with 17 kills while hitting .342. She also chipped in 21 digs, five blocks, four assists and two service aces. In the win against UW-River Falls, three Auggies recorded double-digit kill totals and each of them finished above the .300 mark for attack percentage.
Wednesday’s matchup between the Gusties and Auggies features two of the MIAC’s top hitters in Gustavus’ Alyssa Taylor and Augsburg’s Ashley Peper. Taylor boasts the league’s second best hitting percentage at .373. The Martin County West High School product is also an imposing figure at the net with a league-leading 1.22 blocks per set average. Meanwhile, Peper leads the MIAC with 270 kills and is second with a 4.43 kills per set average.