MINNEAPOLIS – On a night in which Kayla Gjerde (SR, Afton, Minn./Stillwater HS) reached the 1,000 career kills milestone, the 15^th-ranked Augsburg University volleyball team dropped a hard-fought battle of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference leaders to 22^nd-ranked Gustavus, falling in four sets (22-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-17) at Si Melby Hall on Homecoming weekend.

THE BASICS 
FINAL SCORE: No. 22 Gustavus def. No. 15 Augsburg 3-1 (22-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-17)
LOCATION: Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
RECORDS: No. 15 Augsburg 14-3 overall (3-1 MIAC), No. 22 Gustavus 15-4 overall (4-0 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED 
• Augsburg came out strong in the first set, opening up an early 6-2 lead over the Gusties. Gustavus had a quick response, using a five-point run to take its first lead at 14-11. The Auggies rallied to tie it at 17 and stayed within a point as Gustavus led 22-21 late, but the Gusties took three of the final four points to take set one 25-22.  
• Set two was a back-and-forth affair to the midpoint, with Augsburg opening up the biggest lead by either team at 16-12. The lead was short-lived, however, as Gustavus rallied to win 13 of the final 15 points, taking the set 25-18.
 • The third set was tightly contested for its entire duration with neither team leading by more than four at any point. Tied at 23-23 late in the set, back-to-back kills from Brianna Van Well (JR, Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS) and Jade Fullerton (SR, Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS) gave Augsburg a 25-23 set win.
• With set four tied at 12-12, the Gusties rattled off nine of the following 11 points to open up a commanding 21-14 lead. Augsburg cut the deficit to five at 21-16, but the hole proved to be too large to climb out of as Gustavus took the set 25-17 to win the match 3-1.
•  Finishing with 13 kills in the match, Gjerde became the fifth Auggie ever to reach the 1,000-career kills milestone (Ashley Peper, Colleen Enrico, Corrina Evans, and Angie Rieger). She is also just the fourth Auggie to record 1,000-plus kills and 1,000-plus digs in career, following Peper, Enrico, and Reiger. She also notched a double-double in the match with 16 digs.
• Fullerton led the Auggie attack throughout the match, hitting .424 with 16 kills and just two errors.  
• Angel Vo (SO, Blaine, Minn./Mounds View HS) led the defensive effort with 22 digs while Torrie Rehder (So, Goodhue, Minn./Goodhue HS) and Emily Kaup (SO, Omaha, Neb./Duchesne Academy HS) added 12 and 11, respectively. Marie Venberg (So, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) finished with a career-high five block assists.
• As a team, Augsburg hit just .095 with 46 kills and 30 errors on 169 attempts while Gustavus hit .189 with 49 kills and 19 errors on 159 attempts.

FOR THE FOES
• Marlee Turn led the Gusties with a match-high 15 kills while Maren Sunberg collected 20 digs.

UP NEXT
• Now 14-3 on the season, Augsburg will travel to St. Joseph, Minn. to take on the College of Saint Benedict tomorrow (10/8) at 5 PM