Volleyball 10/24/08 -- Augsburg 3, St. Mary's 2 (19-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-20, 15-9)
MATCH BOXSCORE | AUGSBURG SEASON STATISTICS
WINONA, Minn. (10/24/08) -- The Augsburg College volleyball team claimed its third consecutive five-set victory over a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent with a 3-2 victory over St. Mary's University on Friday night at the SMU Gym in Winona. Augsburg won by scores of 19-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-20 and 15-9.
The Auggies were led by Julie Jenkins (SR, Edina, Minn.), who recorded her third consecutive kill-dig double-double. Jenkins posted a team-high 15 kills while also recording 12 digs, five assists and three blocks. Also posting double-digit kills for Augsburg was Katie Christensen (SO, North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS) and Barbara Simmons (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS). Christensen recorded 11 kills, eight digs and five blocks, while Simmons put up 10 kills and eight blocks.
The Auggie defense was anchored by the duo of Dani Tanaka (JR, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) and Jessica Hilk (SO, Waconia, Minn./Mayer Lutheran HS) who recorded 24 and 15 digs, respectively. Setter Shanna Reed (JR, Eagan, Minn./Holy Angels HS) posted an assist-dig double-double, with 48 assists and 10 digs in leading the Auggies to the victory.
After dropping the first set 19-25, the Auggies found themselves down 10-6 in the second set before they were able to put together a rally and tie things up at 18-18. The Auggies would go on to score seven of the last 10 points and steal the come-from-behind, 25-23 victory over the Cardinals.
The Auggies had trouble finding their offensive rhythm in the third set, but were able to count on strong defense and blocking by Simmons and Amanda Rueb (SR, Plymouth, Minn./West Lutheran HS) to keep pace with St. Mary's. The Auggies were able to tie things up at 24-24 but weren't able to hang on as the Cardinals went on to claim the 26-24 victory.
St. Mary's jumped out to a 6-1 lead to start the fourth set but the Auggies would rally back, sparked by three kills from Jenkins, and tie things up at 13-13. A pair of kills by Christensen and Simmons would give Augsburg the 20-18 lead and force a St. Mary's timeout. The Auggies would not look back, as two kills from Jenkins sealed the 25-20 win for Augsburg.
In the fifth set, the Auggies used a sold offensive attack (.368) to overpower the Cardinals. For the second consecutive match, Jenkins was able to record the final two kills of the set and seal the win for the Auggies.
St. Mary's was led offensively by Jessica Mate, who recorded 20 kills and 11 digs. Defensively, the Cardinals were led by Theresa Perrini, who led all players with 41 digs. Setter Brittany Cherwinka recorded 43 assists in the match.
Augsburg returns to MIAC play on Wednesday (10/29) at 7 p.m., when they travel to the College of St. Catherine to play a key MIAC matchup.
