WHITEWATER, Wis. – The Augsburg University volleyball team opened up play for the 2024 season on Friday with a pair of matches at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Invitational, falling to Edgewood College 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 24-26, 25-20) and sweeping Knox College 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-10) to end the day 1-1.

THE BASICS 
FINAL SCORE: Edgewood 3, Augsburg 1 (25-19, 25-22, 24-26, 25-20); Augsburg 3, Knox 0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-10)
LOCATION: Whitewater, Wis.
RECORDS: Augsburg 1-1 overall, Edgewood 1-0 overall, Knox 0-1 overall

EDGEWOOD 3, AUGSBURG 1 
• After dropping set one 25-19, the Auggies found themselves in a 22-22 tie near the end of set two. The Eagles rattled off three straight points to take the set 25-22 and go up 2-0 in the match.
• With each team knotted up at 22 once again late in the third set, the Auggies won four of the following six points to take the set 26-24. Though Augsburg led 14-12 midway through the fourth set, a run of six straight points by the Eagles gave them a lead that would hold for the remainder of the set as they claimed a 25-20 victory to take the match 3-1.
• Libero Torrie Rehder (SR, Goodhue, Minn./Goodhue HS) anchored the Auggie back row with 24 digs while Ava Carlson (FY, Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet HS) and Carmen Shimek (FY, Ramsey, Minn./Anoka HS) finished with 14 and 13 digs, respectively. Bri Van Well (SR, Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS) led the Augsburg attack with 14 kills while Carlson notched a double-double in her first collegiate match with 10 kills.

AUGSBURG 3, KNOX 0
• Trailing 5-3 early in set one, the Auggies put together two separate runs of seven consecutive points to take a commanding lead on the way to a 25-14 win. Augsburg led wire-to-wire in set two, once again claiming a 25-14 win to go up 2-0 in the match.
• The third set proved to be more of the same with the Auggies quickly working out to a large lead and cruising to a 25-10 win to complete the sweep.
• Augsburg was extremely efficient in the match, hitting .415 as a team while Knox hit just .038. Augsburg's serve-receive proved effective as well, notching 11 service aces while Knox finished with two.
• Van Well was outstanding for the Auggies, hitting .500 with 12 kills and just one error on 22 attack attempts. Rehder led the defensive effort once again with 19 digs while Angel Vo (SR, Blaine, Minn./Mounds View HS) finished with 18 set assists and four digs.

FOR THE FOES
• Cassidy Spies led the Eagles with a 14-kill, 10-dig double-double.

UP NEXT
• The Auggies will continue play at the UW-Whitewater with matches against host UW-Whitewater (12 pm) and Lake Forest College (2 pm).