Volleyball 10/18/03 -- St. Mary's 3, Augsburg 0

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (10/18/03) -- Tracy Koertgen (Jr., Crystal Lake, Ill./South HS) had 11 kills, eight digs and three blocks, leading St. Mary's University to a three-game sweep of Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference volleyball match Saturday afternoon at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall. Game scores were 30-22, 30-12, 30-26.

Rachel Rivers (So., Apple Valley, Minn.) added seven kills, three service aces and 16 digs for the Cardinals, who bounced back from Friday's three-game loss at MIAC rival Bethel to improve to 18-5 overall and 7-2 in MIAC play. Augsburg drops to 3-18 overall, 1-8 in the MIAC.

St. Mary's held the lead nearly the entire first game, pulling away from a 22-20 advantage with an 8-2 run to close the match. Kirstan Rouzer (Jr., Comstock, Wis./Turtle Lake HS) and Koertgen had two kills apiece in the 8-2 run. Koertgen had six kills in the first game, with Katie Christensen (Jr., Crystal Lake, Minn./South HS) contributing four kills, hitting .500 in the game.

A 10-1 opening run -- with St. Mary's taking advantage of six Augsburg attack errors -- gave the Cardinals an early advantage in the second game, and the Cardinals cruised to the easy win. St. Mary's had nine kills and six blocks in the second game, as it took advantage of 14 Augsburg attack errors (hitting negative-.174). Ashley Danielson (Fr., Cadott, Wis.) had three kills and three blocks in the second game, with Rivers adding eight digs and two service aces.

Augsburg took a 10-6 lead in the third game, but St. Mary's rallied back to eventually tie the match at 17-17, then forge ahead in a 8-1 scoring run to take a lead it would not relinquish. Rivers had two kills and a block in the decisive scoring run.

Rivers had five kills, hitting .500 (one error) in the third game, while Megan Roesler (Fr., St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) had four kills in the game.

Linnea Evans (So., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) led the Auggies with seven kills in the third game, with Elsie Ginsberg (Fr., St. Paul, Minn./Central HS) adding five kills and two blocks (one solo).

Danielson had four blocks and three kills for the Cardinals, while Rouzer had five kills and eight digs in the game. Mollie Melton (Jr., Oronoco, Minn./Pine Island HS) had five kills and a block. Tessa Stranik (Jr., Eatonville, Wash.) led the Cardinals with 39 assists and six digs.

Augsburg was paced by Evans, who had 11 kills and a block. Ginsberg had eight kills and five blocks (two solo), while Kristy Larson (Jr., Pine Island, Minn.) had four kills and two blocks, and Billie Painschab (So., Howard Lake, Minn./Howard Lake-Waverly HS) had four kills and five blocks. Britt Bogner (So., Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley HS) had three kills and a team-high 15 digs.

Alexis Johnson (So., Oakdale, Minn./North St. Paul HS) had 18 assists for the Auggies, with Anna Piermantier (Sr., Afton, Minn./Stillwater HS) adding eight assists.

Both teams return to MIAC action on Wednesday (10/22) at 7:30 p.m. in MIAC play on the road, with Augsburg playing at Bethel and St. Mary's playing at Carleton.