MINNEAPOLIS – The Gustavus Adolphus College volleyball team traveled up to the twin cities for a conference road match at the Augsburg University Auggies on Friday night. The Gusties dropped the opening set but then won the next three in a row to take down the Auggies 3-1. With the win, Gustavus improved to 10-4 overall on the season with a 3-0 record in the MIAC.
In the opening set, Augsburg jumped out to an early 6-1 lead. The Gusties won the next three points to make it 6-4, but then the Auggies went on a 6-1 run to go up 12-5. Gustavus kept up the fight and eventually cut Augsburg's lead down to just two points, trailing 19-17. However, the Auggies then won six of the next seven points to take the opening set 25-18 and go up 1-0 in the match.
The Gusties had a narrow 7-6 lead in the second set until an 8-2 run put them up 15-7. Augsburg responded by winning the next seven points to cut Gustavus' lead down to just one point, trailing 15-14. The Gusties built their lead back up with an 8-3 run to go up 23-17. The Auggies draw within one point with a 5-0 run to make it 23-22, but Gustavus closed out the set with back-to-back points to take it 25-22 and tie the match up at 1-1.
The third set was closely contested the whole way through. The Gusties trailed 14-12 midway through until going on a 5-1 run to take a 17-15 lead. Augsburg tied the set up at 18-all, but a three-point run put Gustavus back up 21-18. The two teams traded points back and fourth the rest of the set as neither team was able to string together back-to-back points for the remainder of the set, with the Gusties' three-point lead proving critical as they took the set 25-22 to go up 2-1 in the match.
The fourth set was tied 10-10 until the Auggies went on a 4-1 run to take a 14-11 lead. Gustavus put together a three-point run to tie the set at 14-all, but then Augsburg did the same to go back up 17-14. The Gusties won the next four to go up 18-17, but the Auggies won four of the next six to take the lead for the last time up 21-20. Gustavus closed out the match with a five-point run, taking the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.
Lauren Barker led the Gustie's attack with 19 kills for 4.75 per set on .421 hitting.
Sahara Morken orchestrated the offense with 40 of Gustavus' 42 assists in the match. The Gusties had a season-high 32 block assists as
Sophia Deyak and
Greta Tompkins led the way with eight each.
Ava Hahn's 12 digs were a team high.
Up next for Gustavus is another road MIAC match as the Gusties travel to Winona to take on the Saint Mary's Cardinals on Saturday, October 3 at 3:00 p.m.
