Volleyball 10/1/03 -- St. Olaf 3, Augsburg 0

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (10/1/03) -- Andrea Otteman (Fr., Ames, Iowa) had nine kills and 22 digs, leading St. Olaf College to a three-game sweep of host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference volleyball match Wednesday evening at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

Game scores were 30-24, 30-18, 33-31 in favor of the Oles, who improved to 9-8 overall and 2-3 in MIAC play. Augsburg drops to 2-15 overall and 0-5 in MIAC play. Augsburg has lost its last 14 MIAC matches in a row by three-game sweeps (42 games), dating back to last season.

Augsburg was competitive early in the first two games, but the Oles rallied past the Auggies each time. Augsburg led the first game 10-9 and rallied for a 19-19 tie, but the Oles rallied with 11 of the last 16 points to take the first game. Andrea Cuff (Sr., Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue Academy HS) had four kills in the first game, hitting .333.

Augsburg built a 4-0 lead in the second game and gained a 10-10 tie later, but a 13-0 scoring run by the Oles put the second game out of reach. Augsburg hit negative-.060 in the second game, with just nine kills and 12 errors in 50 attempts. Meanwhile, Andrea Drapcho (Sr., Waconia, Minn.) had four kills, hitting .375 in the second game.

The third game was one of the best played by Augsburg this season, as the Auggies rallied back from an 11-6 deficit to tie the match at 24-24, then withstood two match points to force extra play at 30-30. Augsburg had game point twice, behind three service aces in a row by Britt Bogner (So., Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley HS), but the Oles closed the match with kills by Otteman, Andrea Donahue (Jr., Shakopee, Minn.) and an Augsburg attack error.

Otteman had seven kills in the third game, hitting .462 (one error in 13 attempts). She had nine digs in the third game.

In addition to Otteman's nine kills in the match, she had two service aces and a block. Drapcho and Cuff also had nine kills, with Danica Finseth (So., Fountain, Minn./Chosen Valley HS) adding eight kills with three service aces, and Donahue adding six kills and six blocks. Drapcho and Finseth added three blocks each. Audrey Volstad (Fr., Hanley, Minn./Yellow Medicine East HS) had 32 assists and six digs, adding four kills and two blocks.

Augsburg was paced by Kristy Larson (Jr., Pine Island, Minn.), who had nine kills and hit .421 (one error in 19 attempts), the second-highest attack percentage for an Auggie in a match this season. She also had two blocks (one solo).

Linnea Evans (So., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) had seven kills, 11 digs and two blocks. Elsie Ginsberg (Fr., St. Paul, Minn./Central HS) had six kills and three blocks, and Billie Painschab (So., Howard Lake, Minn./Howard Lake-Waverly HS) had four kills and four blocks. Anna Piermantier (Sr., Afton, Minn./Stillwater HS) had 15 assists and eight digs, and Alexis Johnson (So., Oakdale, Minn./North St. Paul HS) had nine assists and eight digs. Alli Burgess (Sr., Soudan, Minn./Tower-Soudan HS) added nine digs.

St. Olaf competes at the Simpson (Iowa) Tournament on Friday and Saturday (10/3-4). Augsburg has its annual alumni match on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Si Melby Hall, and returns to MIAC play on Wednesday (10/8) with a 7:30 p.m. match at Hamline.