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WINONA, Minn.-- The Augsburg College volleyball team picked up four sweeps at the Saint Mary's University Cardinal Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The No. 19-ranked Auggies (20-2 overall) picked up their 20th win of the season with nine regular season matches left. The last time Augsburg has won 20 games in a season was in 1986 when it was 22-14. The Auggies have won 16 matches in a row, and 16 of their 20 wins have been by way of a sweep, including the last five in a row. 

Colleen Ourada (SR, Omaha, Neb./Mercy HS) reached a career milestone this weekend, surpassing 1,000 kills. Ourada's junior year was cut short due to an injury, and the Auggies are shining with her healthy this season. She has 10 kill-dig double doubles and is third in kills-per-set in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's overall statistics with a 3.81 average. 

Ashley Peper (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) leads the MIAC in kills-per-set with an average of 4.69. Her 4.64 average this weekend was also the highest of the tournament. Peper was efficient in her attacks this weekend as well, finishing fourth in hitting percentage with .402.

Both Ourada and Peper earned spots on the All-Tournament Team, which was announced on Monday.

Emily McCourt (SR, Sun Prairie, Wis.) finished with an assists-per-set average of 11.45, good enough for second, while also finishing sixth in service aces-per-set with an average of 0.45. Defensive specialist Katelyn Berens (SR, Jordan, Minn./Prior Lake HS) was fifth in the tournament with a dig-per-set average of 4.33.

The Auggies return to MIAC play on Wednesday (10/9), when they travel to St. Peter, Minn. to face Gustavus Adolphus College at 7 p.m. on Gus Young Court.

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Friday, Oct 4

MATCH 1 -- Augsburg def. Augustana (Ill.) 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-16)
MATCH 1 BOX

Colleen Ourada added her ninth double-double of the season in Augsburg's rout of Augustana (Ill.) on Friday afternoon at the Cardinal Invitational with 10 kills, 14 digs, two blocks (one solo) and one assist. The Auggies (17-2 overall) picked up their 13th sweep of the season in their victory over the Vikings (10-5 overall). 

Ashley Peper turned in a match-high 16 kills, four digs, three assists, two blocks (one solo), and two aces. Jessica Lillquist (SO, Sebeka, Minn./Sebeka HS) finished with a match-high hitting percentage of .417 in her six kills, while also picking up two digs, two blocks and an assist. 

Emily McCourt finished with a match-high 31 assists, four digs, one ace and one block, while Taylor Trautman (FY, Hutchinson, Minn.) chalked up five kills, five digs, two blocks and two service aces. Others contributing for Augsburg were Jaelyn Arndt (FY, Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS) and Ellen Sachs (FY, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) with three kills and two kills respectively. Senior defensive specialist Katelyn Berens finished with a match-best 18 digs, while Mackensie Menke (JR, Prior Lake, Minn./Shakopee HS) picked up 12. 

Augustana did not have a hitter reach double-digit kills in the match and finished with a team hitting percentage of .088. Emily Leazer led the Vikings with nine kills, nine digs, a block and an assist. As a team, the Vikings finished with eight service errors, four block errors and one ball handling error. 

MATCH 2 -- Augsburg def. Central (Iowa) 3-0 (25-9, 25-10, 25-14)
MATCH 2 BOX

Augsburg volleyball team hit .409 as a team in its three-set sweep of Central (Iowa) on Friday evening. The Auggies (18-2 overall) had 10 players finish with at least one kill, with Colleen Ourada leading the way with 11 kills,  three digs and two blocks (one solo). Ashley Peper finished with eight kills, six digs and a block, while Jaelyn Arndt, Taylor Trautman and Jessica Lillquist each had five kills. Trautman also picked up two solo blocks, while Arndt chipped in three digs. 

Katelyn Berens and Mackensie Menke both reach double-digit digs with 14 and 11, and each added a service ace for the Auggies as well. Emily McCourt had a great all-around match finishing with a match-best 34 assists, eight digs, two kills in three attempts, and one solo block. 

The Dutch (6-14 overall) got off to a slow start in the first set when the No. 19 Auggies took an early 11-0 lead. Their top hitter, Jesica Laflin, recorded seven kills while hitting .080 with one assist, while Sara Snead chipped in six kills and four digs. Central never led during the three-set match. 

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Saturday, Oct 5

MATCH 3 -- Augsburg def. UW-Eau Claire 3-0 (25-17, 27-25, 25-19)
MATCH 3 BOX

Two of the top three hitters in the MIAC call Augsburg home. Colleen Ourada and Ashley Peper put the No. 19-ranked Auggies (19-2 overall) on their back and avenged an early season loss by sweeping Wisconsin-Eau Claire (11-10 overall). Peper led all attackers with 18 kills and added 12 digs for her eighth double-double of the season, while Ourada finished with 15 kills, 14 digs, two blocks (one solo), and an assist for her team leading 10th double-double of the season. 

As a team, the Auggies hit .400 in the first set to claim a 25-17 victory. The second set proved to be more difficult, as neither team could muster more than a four-point lead throughout the set. Augsburg picked up the victory with three straight points after trailing 25-24. A Peper kill tied the match at 25-25, Mackensie Menke followed with a service ace, then Emily McCourt finished with a kill to win 27-25. The Auggies were down early in the third set, but took the lead 6-5 and never trailed again to complete the sweep. 

McCourt was instrumental in the Auggies sweep by contributing 41 assists, eight digs, three kills, a block and an ace. Taylor Trautman finished with five kills, three digs and two blocks. 

The Auggie defense was on point today with four players finishing in double-digit dig totals. Katelyn Berens picked up 11 digs and two assists, while Menke had ten digs, one assist and an ace. 

Kelly Schuh led UW-Eau Claire with a double-double of 11 kills and 10 digs. Katrina Raskie finished with nine kills and eight digs. As a team, the Blugolds hit just .126 compared to the Auggies .286. 

MATCH 4 -- Augsburg def. Dubuque (Iowa) 3-0 (25-16, 25-8, 25-20)
MATCH 4 BOX

The Auggies (20-2 overall) are on a roll, and in the final match of the weekend, 11 players contributed kills in their three set sweep of Dubuque (Iowa, 8-13 overall). Ashley Peper led all strikers in the match with nine kills, two digs, and two blocks. DeeDee Maier (FY, Middleton, Wis.) finished with seven kills, hitting .438, and one solo block. 

Augsburg blocked nine attacks in the three-set match, contributing to a .034 hitting percentage for the Spartans, who also had 22 attacking errors. Three Auggie first-year attackers finished with four kills in the match: Taylor Trautman, Kali Kuusisto (FY, Brooklyn Center, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) and Ellen Sachs (FY, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS). Kuusisto also had a match-best five blocks (one solo) and two digs. 

Emily McCourt dished out 20 assists and picked up three digs and three service aces. Katelyn Berens and Mackensie Menke again led the Auggies in digs with nine and five respectively.