AUGSBURG VS. NORTHWESTERN BOXSCORE
AUGSBURG VS. CROWN BOXSCORE

ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. -- Behind five players with double-digit kills, the Augsburg College volleyball team picked up a pair of nonconference wins over Crown College and Northwestern College-Roseville at a triangular hosted by Crown College on Tuesday night. With the wins, the Auggies move to 15-10 overall.

Against Crown College, the Auggies claimed a 3-0 win (25-23, 25-20, 25-18). In a very close first set, the Auggies took advantage of a big service ace by Denielle Johnson (JR, Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park HS) and a kill by Jamila Lee (FY, Richfield, Minn.) to close out a first-set victory. In the second set, Augsburg's Dani Tanaka (SR, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) rattled off six consecutive serves to build an early lead. Caitlin Batzlaff (SO, Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) was able to put down the final kill for the Auggies to seal the second-set win. In the third set, Augsburg grabbed their first lead at 6-5 and would never look back as the Auggies cruised to a 25-18 win.

For the match, Augsburg was led offensively by Batzlaff, who posted a game-high 13 kills and Johnson, who recorded a career-high 30 assists. Defensively, Tanaka anchored the Augsburg defense posting a game-high 18 digs.

In an evenly matched contest against Northwestern-Roseville, the Auggies were able to outlast the Eagles and claim a 3-2 victory (25-23, 25-21, 18-25, 25-27, 15-7). In the first set, the Auggies had one of their best offensive performances of the season, posting a .469 team hitting percentage. Augsburg was down 20-22, but found a way to score five of the last six points to seal the come-from-behind victory. In the second set, Augsburg's Katie Christensen (JR, North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS) rattled off five consecutive serves to give the Auggies a 19-13 lead. Although, Northwestern would cut the lead to two, Augsburg was able to outlast the Eagles and claim a 25-21 win.

In the third set, the Auggies struggled offensively as the Eagles held them to a negative hitting percentage and cruised to a 25-18 win. The Auggies appeared to be in control of the fourth set, when they forced a Northwestern timeout at 15-10, but the Eagles weren't ready to be done quite yet as Chelsea Koth rallied Northwestern back with three straight kills. Northwestern took a 23-21 advantage before the Auggies could mount a rally of their own. Augsburg served for the win at 24-23 but was not able to close out the set as Northwestern capitalized off three Auggie miscues and went on to win 27-25. In the deciding fifth set, Augsburg was up 9-7 before they scored the next six consecutive points to close out the win.

For the match, Augsburg had four players finish with double-digit kills. Leading the way was Christensen with a career-high 19, followed by Barbara Simmons (SR, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) with 13, Amanda Unze (FY, Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska HS) with 12 and Korri Yule (JR, Medford, Minn.) with 11. Christensen also posted 10 digs, recording her sixth kill-dig double-double of the season. Setter Shanna Reed (SR, Eagan, Minn./Holy Angels HS) posted a career-high 60 assists, while Tanaka posted a team-high 21 digs.

The Auggies return to action on Thursday (10/15) at 7 p.m., when they host Concordia College-Moorhead at Si Melby Hall in a key Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup.