Volleyball 9/28/05 -- St. Olaf 3, Augsburg 0 (30-20, 30-21, 30-12)

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (9/28/05) -- Ashley Dennis (Jr., Billings, Mont./Skyview HS) had a double-double, with 13 kills and 13 digs, leading St. Olaf College to a three-game sweep of host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference volleyball match Wednesday night at Si Melby Hall.

St. Olaf claimed a 30-20, 30-21, 30-12 victory to improve to 8-5 overall, 3-2 in MIAC play. Meanwhile, Augsburg lost its 10th match in a row to fall to 2-16 overall, 0-5 in MIAC play.

Dennis had a strong hitting night for the Oles, with just two errors in 26 attempts for a .423 attack percentage. As a team, St. Olaf hit .277, with 47 kills and 14 errors in 119 attempts. Meanwhile, Augsburg had a negative attack night, with 20 kills and 28 errors for a minus-.067 team attack percentage.

Christine Brook (Fr., Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) had 10 kills, five blocks and three service aces for the Oles, while Andrea Otteman (Jr., Ames, Iowa) had seven kills, 16 digs, three blocks and four aces. Jessica Levin (Fr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier HS) and Danica Finseth (Sr., Chatfield, Minn./Chosen Valley HS) had seven kills apiece, with Finseth contributing 10 digs.

Audrey Volstad (Jr., Hanley Falls, Minn./Yellow Medicine East HS) had 38 assists and seven digs, and Rachel Pool (So., Bozeman, Mont.) had 14 digs and three aces.

Dani Boner (Fr., Omaha, Neb./Mercy HS) and Katie LaGrave (So., Okinawa, Japan/Kadena HS) had five kills apiece to lead the Auggies, with Boner contributing seven digs and two aces. Linnea Evans * (Sr., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) had four kills and 10 digs.

Sarah Bradley (So., International Falls, Minn.) had 10 digs, Haley Bower (So., Brainerd, Minn.) and Emma Sutton (So., Chicago, Ill./Mother McCauley HS) had nine digs apiece, and Alexis Johnson (Sr., Oakdale, Minn./North St. Paul HS) had 11 assists.

A 10-3 scoring run midway through the first game gave the Oles a lead they would not relinquish. A 10-5 run in the second game gave the Oles another commanding lead, though the Auggies cut the advantage to 18-14 before the Oles pulled away again. St. Olaf had 18 kills to Augsburg's three in the final game, as the Oles hit .405 as a team in the set (18 kills, three errors in 37 attempts).

Augsburg has a nonconference match at Bethany Lutheran on Monday (10/3) at 7 p.m., before returning home to Si Melby Hall to face St. Catherine next Wednesday (10/5) at 7 p.m. St. Olaf returns to MIAC play next Wednesday, with a 7 p.m. home match against Gustavus.