HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Augsburg University volleyball team opened up play for the 2023 season on Friday with two matches at the Haverford Invitational, topping Haverford College 3-1 and securing a dominant sweep of Lebanon Valley College.

THE BASICS 
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg def. Haverford 3-1 (25-16, 21-25, 25-20, 25-19); Augsburg def. Lebanon Valley 3-0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-19)
LOCATION: Haverford College, Haverford Pa.
RECORDS: Augsburg 2-0 overall, Haverford 1-1 overall, Lebanon Valley 0-2 overall

AUGSBURG 3, HAVERFORD 1 
• The Auggies came out strong in their season opener, taking the first set with ease at 25-16. The Black Squirrels flipped the script in set two, winning the set 25-20 to even the match at 1-1.
• Sets three and four were each relatively close affairs, but Augsburg came out on top in each instance by scores of 25-20 and 25-19, respectively, to claim the 3-1 victory.

AUGSBURG 3, LEBANON VALLEY 0
• The Auggie attack was firing on all cylinders from the jump in their second match of the day, jumping out to a 5-0 lead behind two kills each from Emily Kaup (JR, Omaha, Neb./Duchesne Academy) and GK LeMonds (JR, St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS).
• Augsburg dominated the middle portion of the set, working out to an 18-4 advantage. The Auggies would go on to claim the opening set 25-15, hitting .233 while holding the Dutchmen to a .000 hitting percentage.
• Set two proved to be more of the same with Augsburg quickly etching out an early lead at 11-4. Lebanon Valley took the next three points to pull within four, but a seven-point Auggie run highlighted by back-to-back service aces from Angel Vo (JR, Blaine, Minn./Mounds View HS) put them back in command at 18-7. Augsburg would once again win the set in dominant fashion at 25-10, hitting an outstanding .471 while holding the Dutchmen to -.095.
• Tied at three each in the third set, another seven-point run by the Auggies put them in control. Leading 11-5, Augsburg took the next five points to secure a double-digit advantage. The Dutchmen battled back to cut the Auggie advantage to five at 23-17, but it proved to be all they could do as Augsburg completed the sweep with a 25-19 win in set three.  
• Vo was outstanding in the back row for Augsburg, logging a 17-assist, 10-dig double-double. Torrie Rehder (JR, Goodhue, Minn./Goodhue HS) led the team with 11 digs, also adding three assists.
• Bri Van Well (SR, Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS) led the charge for the Auggie attack, notching 12 kills with just two errors on 19 attempts for a .526 hitting percentage. Lemonds was also extremely effective, logging 10 kills and just a single error on 16 attempts for a .563 percentage.
• For the match, Augsburg had 42 kills and 12 errors on 89 attempts for a .337 hitting percentage while Lebanon Valley had just 21 kills with 15 errors on 94 attempts for a .064 hitting line.

FOR THE FOES
• Taylor McInerney led the Dutchmen with seven kills while Robyn Stepler logged a match-high 20 assists.

UP NEXT
• The Auggies will continue play at the Haverford Invitational tomorrow (9/2) with matches against Stockton University (10 am CT) and Coast Guard (12 pm CT).