MATCH BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (9/26/08) -- The Augsburg College volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller to the College of St. Benedict on Friday night in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall. Game scores were 25-17, 29-31, 25-18, 13-25, 15-8 in favor of the Blazers.

For the second consecutive time this season, the Auggies (8-8 overall, 0-3 MIAC) and Blazers (16-3 overall, 3-0 MIAC) played exciting, back and forth, evenly-matched volleyball that went down to the wire. Augsburg and St. Benedict both had three hitters with double-digit kills, both had setters had more than 40 assists and both had defenses where four players had 10 or more digs.

In the first set, the Blazers came out strong, claiming a 7-2 lead. The Auggies fought back with a run of their own to close the gap to 10-8. Consecutive kills by Katie Christensen (SO, North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS) and Barbara Simmons (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) forced a St. Benedict timeout at 12-10. The Blazer offense proved to be too much for the Auggies, as they went on to claim the 25-17 win.

A marathon second set required the Auggies to score 31 points in order to top the Blazers. A key series of seven consecutive serves by Dani Tanaka (JR, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) late in the match sparked the Auggies to tie the score at 25-25. Both teams traded points back and forth to a 29-29 score. An attack error by the Blazers and a key block by Julie Jenkins (SR, Edina, Minn.) and Amanda Rueb (SR, Plymouth, Minn./West Lutheran HS) sealed the Augsburg victory.

St. Benedict took an early 7-2 lead in the third set. Attack errors by the Blazers and big kills by Rueb and Jenkins brought the Auggies within one at 8-7. St. Benedict's Emma Jaynes rattled off seven consecutive serves and widened the Blazer lead to 17-9. The Auggies were not able to overcome the Blazer run and dropped the set 25-18.

The Auggies came out with intensity in the fourth set, posting their best set of the night hitting .368 and recording 15 digs. The Auggies were led by Rueb, who had five kills on six attempts (.833). The Auggies put together big serving runs by Denielle Johnson (SO, Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park HS), Jessica Hilk (SO, Waconia, Minn./Mayer Lutheran HS) and Breann Woefel (JR, Annandale, Minn.), who all rattled off more than four consecutive serves.

The deciding fifth set found the Auggies down 4-1 before they were able to battle back to a 9-7 deficit. Timely hitting by the Blazers made the difference down the stretch, as they were able to pull away with the 15-8 victory.

For the match, the Auggies were led offensively by Christensen with 13 kills and Jenkins and Rueb each with 10. Jenkins also played well defensively, recording 14 digs for her second kill-dig double-double of the season. Defensively, the Auggies were led by Tanaka and Hilk, who recorded 22 and 16 digs respectively. Setter Shanna Reed (JR, Eagan, Minn./Holy Angels HS) posted an assist-dig double-double in the match, recording 41 assists and 11 digs.

The Blazers were led by Jaynes with 18 kills and Beth Hanson with 46 assists. Anchoring the St. Benedict defense was Chelsie Sobieck and Amber Wortz who recorded 34 and 30 digs respectively.

The Auggies' next action will be a non-conference match on Monday (9/29) against North Central University at 7 p.m. at Si Melby Hall.