Tara Houlihan (Jr., Sioux Falls, S.D./Lincoln HS) had a double-double with 11 kills, 16 digs and six service aces, leading Gustavus Adolphus College to a three-game sweep of host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference volleyball match Wednesday night at Si Melby Hall.
Becca Thompson (So., Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS) added 10 kills for the Gusties, now 15-6 overall and 4-3 in MIAC play.
Augsburg, paced by eight kills and a block by Billie Painschab (Jr., Howard
Lake, Minn./Howard Lake-Waverly HS), drops to 9-11 overall, 1-6 in MIAC play.
Gustavus rallied from deficits of 12-5 and 17-10 in the first game to steal the win and never looked back, cruising in the second and third games behind a balanced attack.
Augsburg jumped out to the lead in the first game on the serving of Sarah Bradley (Fr., International Falls, Minn.) who had two aces in a six-point service run, putting the Auggies up 6-1.
But Houlihan’s serving put the Gusties back in the game, as she claimed four service aces in a 6-0 service run to tie the game at 17-17. From there, the Gusties slowly pulled away to the victory, with a 5-2 run down the stretch.
Houlihan had five aces, 10 digs and four kills in the first game, with Thompson also adding four kills. Painschab had four kills for the Auggies in the first game.
Houlihan added six kills in the second game, as the Gusties ran out to a 10-5 lead, and on a 7-0 service run by Bri Alsides (Fr., South St. Paul, Minn.) with two kills each by Houlihan and Anne Osthus (Jr., Olivia, Minn./BOLD HS), stretched the lead to 23-11.
Alsides had 13 digs and three aces in the match, while Osthus had six kills,
seven digs and three blocks.
Two straight service aces by Courtney Isakson (Fr., Northfield, Minn.) put the
Auggies in front 3-0 early in the third game, but after that, it was all Gustavus, as the Gusties used a 21-5 run to put the match out of reach. Two
aces and an 8-0 service run by Alsides gave the Gusties the advantage to stay.
Thompson had five kills in the third game for the Gusties, while the Auggies
could manage just six kills as a team in the final game, committing 12 attack errors and hitting minus-.162.
As a team, Augsburg hit minus-.014 in the match, with 25 kills and 27 errors in 142 attempts. Meanwhile, Gustavus hit .200, with 48 kills and 21 errors in 135 attempts.
Libero Sue Dailey (Sr., Owatonna, Minn.) had 16 digs for the Gusties, while
setter Rachel Batalden (Sr., Lamberton, Minn./Red Rock Central HS) had 33
assists, eight digs, two blocks (one solo) and five kills.
Kristy Larson (Sr., Pine Island, Minn.) and Linnea Evans (Jr., Kenyon,
Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) had six kills apiece for the Auggies, with Evans adding 12 digs. Bradley had 14 digs, and Alexis Johnson (Jr., Oakdale,
Minn./North St. Paul HS) had 21 assists, eight digs and a block.
Augsburg returns to MIAC play on Friday (10/15) at 7:30 p.m., with a match at St. Catherine. Gustavus is back in action on Thursday (10/14) with a 7:30 p.m. nonconference match, hosting Luther (Iowa).
(story courtesy of Don Stoner, Augsburg Sports Information Office)