MINNEAPOLIS -- The Augsburg University volleyball team dropped a hard-fought five-set match against No. 23-ranked Bethel University in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday night at Si Melby Hall. 

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Bethel def. Augsburg 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-27, 15-12)
LOCATION: Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 12-11 overall (4-5 MIAC), Bethel University 16-4 overall (7-1 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED 
• It was a tough, back-and-forth battle between the Auggies and the Royals, with 35 tie scores and 21 lead changes through the five-set match. Bethel was up 2-1 after three sets, before the Auggies came fighting back in the fourth, tying the match at two sets apiece with a 27-25 win. The fifth set was tied at 9-9, but the Royals climbed out to a 14-9 lead. The Auggies closed the deficit to 14-12 but was unable to hold off the Royals, dropping the final set 15-12. 
• Bethel hit .176 as a team in the match, while Augsburg hit .170. The Auggies were dominant defensively at the net, earning 18 team blocks. 
• Jade Fullerton (SR, Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS) earned season-high 10 blocks (2 solo), while Corrina Evans (SR, Blaine, Minn./Blaine HS) had seven block assists, tying her season-high block effort. Fullerton added nine kills. Evans had 10 kills -- hitting at a .348 clip -- and nine digs.
• Leading Augsburg offensively was Mikayla Coops (SO, Belle Plaine, Minn./Belle Plaine HS), earning her career-best 14 kills, hitting at a .414 percentage. Coops also chipped in two block assists. 
• Kevin Boysen (SR, Rochester, Minn./Mayo HS) finished with nine kills and five blocks (1 solo). Kayla Gjerde (SR, Afton, Minn./Stillwater HS) had 17 digs, eight kills and three block assists. 
• Both Lexie Lang (SR, Rochester, Minn./Mayo HS) and Izzy Barr (SR, River Falls, Wis./River Falls HS) earned assist-dig double-doubles. Lang had 27 assists and 17 digs, adding four kills and a block. Barr had 20 assists and 11 digs. 
• Maddie Nierengarten (SR, Foley, Minn./Princeton HS) finished with 12 digs and three kills. Brianna Van Well (SO, Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS) had five kills and five block assists. 
• Earning team-high 19 digs was Angel Khang (SO, Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul HS), adding six assists. 

FOR THE FOES
• Four Royals had double-digit kills -- leading them was Allie Fauth with 19, followed by Kirstin Cotter with 18.  
• Hannah Wilhite earned match-high 53 assists, while Kelsie Sealock had match-best 29 digs. 
• With tonight's victory, Bethel secured a MIAC playoff spot. 

UP NEXT
• Augsburg hosts a triangular on Saturday (10/23), facing off against Luther College at 3 p.m and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls at 7 p.m., both at Si Melby Hall. 
• Bethel travels to St. Mary's on Saturday (10/23) for a 7 p.m. MIAC match.