Volleyball 10/23/04 -- Martin Luther 3, Augsburg 2 (30-20, 27-30, 30-17, 24-30, 15-7)

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (10/23/04) -- Emily Buck (So., New Ulm, Minn.) had a triple-double, with 50 assists, 13 kills and 11 digs, leading Martin Luther College to a five-game victory over host Augsburg College in a nonconference volleyball match on Saturday night at Si Melby Hall.

Rachel Meyer (So., Milwaukee, Wis.) had a match-high 23 kills for the Knights, who claimed the match win by game scores of 30-20, 27-30, 30-17, 24-30 and 15-7.

Katie Bertolus (So., Watertown, Wis.) hit .357 and had 13 kills, while Beth Bertolus (Sr., Watertown, Wis.) had 17 kills, hitting .367, with 27 digs. Tiffany Wendt (Sr., Aurora, Nev.) added 11 kills and eight blocks (five solo) for Martin Luther, now 15-12 overall.

Augsburg dropped its fifth match in a row to fall to 9-15 on the season.

Martin Luther jumped out a 6-0 lead in the decisive fifth game, taking advantage of four Augsburg attack errors in the first six points. Augsburg could not cut the lead under five points the rest of the way. Augsburg hit .000, with just four kills and four errors in 17 attacks in the fifth game, while Martin Luther, led by Beth Bertolus' four kills, hit .292, with 10 kills and only three errors in 24 attacks.

Augsburg was paced by Billie Painschab (Jr., Howard Lake, Minn./Howard Lake-Waverly HS), who had a career-high 18 kills, hitting .216, while adding four blocks (one solo). Kristy Larson * (Sr., Pine Island, Minn.) had 12 kills and six blocks, and Linnea Evans * (Jr., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) had her fifth double-double of the season with 13 kills, a career-high 25 digs and three blocks.

Martin Luther jumped out to the first-game victory, hitting .305 as a team and getting seven kills and nine digs from Beth Bertolus and six kills from Meyer.

Augsburg took the second game, rallying from deficits of 16-10 and 25-20 with a 10-2 closing run. Painschab had five kills and two blocks in the second game, while Courtney Isakson (Fr., Northfield, Minn.) had four kills and five digs in the game.

Martin Luther used a 20-11 opening spurt in the third game to cruise to the victory, with Meyer notching six kills and Wendt getting four in the frame.

Larson and Painschab had five kills each, with Evans adding four, to clinch the fourth-game win, rallying from an early 13-10 deficit with an 8-2 mid-game run to take the lead.

Bethany Bauer (Sr., Lake Mills, Wis.) had 39 digs for Martin Luther, which had five players with 10 or more digs.

Isakson had nine kills and eight digs for the Auggies. Libero Tina Quick (Fr., Blaine, Minn./Centennial HS) had 22 digs, with Haley Bower (Fr., Brainerd, Minn.) adding 14 with three blocks. Alexis Johnson (Jr., Oakdale, Minn./North St. Paul HS) had 47 assists and 16 digs for her eighth assist-dig double-double of the season.

Augsburg closes its 2004 season with a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against St. Thomas on Wednesday (10/27) at 7:30 p.m. at Si Melby Hall. Martin Luther hosts North Central (Minn.) in a nonconference match on Tuesday (10/26) at 7 p.m.