ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — The Augsburg University volleyball team dropped a 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at Bethel University on Wednesday. The Auggies hit .103 with 43 kills, while the Royals finished at .262 with 53 kills. Bethel entered the match receiving votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III national poll.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Bethel def. Augsburg 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-22)
LOCATION: Robertson Center, Arden Hills, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 5-11 overall (2-3 MIAC), Bethel 17-4 overall (4-0 MIAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Auggies opened the first set with an
Aloaha Ricke kill and
Ava Carlson ace and later led 5-2, but Bethel answered on Auggie attack errors to move in front 9-7. The Royals later built a 17-12 lead after kills from Grace Bathurst, Sara Scherber and Peyton Howie helped widen the gap.
Elise Uphoff served the Auggies through six straight points, including her ace, a Ricke kill from
Ameerah Rogers, an attack error that tied the set at 17-17 and another Ricke kill from
Jovial King for an 18-17 lead. After Bethel tied it at 18-18, Ricke put down three straight Auggies kills to make it 21-18, and after the Royals closed to 23-22, a Bethel attack error and a
Taliah Triggs kill helped the Auggies finish the set 25-23.
Carlson served three straight aces, and a block by Triggs and
Gwynn Gorter helped the Auggies turn a 1-1 tie into a 5-1 lead in the second set. Bethel pulled even at 7-7 and later moved in front 12-11, but the Auggies kept answering through the middle of the set, including kills from Ricke and
Gwynn Gorter and another Carlson ace. After the Royals led 19-17, King and Ricke had kills during a stretch that put the Auggies ahead 22-20, but Bethel tied it at 22-22 and, after Gorter gave the Auggies a 23-22 edge, scored the final three points to take the set 25-23.
The Auggies played even early in the third set, getting kills from Ricke and
Lilly Wynn before a block by Rogers and Wynn helped tie the score at 4-4. Bethel took the next six points, with Grace Bathurst contributing two kills, a block and a shared block during the stretch, and the home team moved ahead 10-4. The Auggies picked up points on kills by Wynn, Triggs, Ricke and King, plus service aces from King and Carlson, but the Royals continued to answer and pushed the margin to 21-13. After Sara Scherber's kill and a Hannah Penke ace helped Bethel reach 24-13, Triggs added one more kill for the Auggies before a service error ended the set at 25-14.
The Auggies trailed 5-3 after Cosette Carto's kill for Bethel, but a Royals attack error,
Lola Pilon's ace,
Taliah Triggs' kill from
Maggie Lile and another Bethel attack error moved the Auggies in front 7-5. After King answered a Royals point with a kill for an 8-6 lead, the Auggies stayed ahead 11-9 on kills by Ricke and
Gwynn Gorter before Bethel ran off five straight points to take a 14-11 lead. Wynn had two kills and teamed with Rogers on a block as the Auggies stayed within 16-15, but the Royals used kills by Peyton Howie and Hannah Penke, along with a block by Grace Bathurst and Ellie Van Namen, to stretch the lead to 22-17. The Auggies came back from 23-18 with Ricke kill, a Gorter kill, a Bethel attack error and Ricke's ace to get within 23-22, but Penke and Bathurst recorded the final two kills for the Royals' 25-22 set win.
AUGSBURG TOP PERFORMERS
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Aloaha Ricke: Team-high 19 kills, team-high 22.0 points, 2 service aces, 2 block assists
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Jovial King: Team-high 32 assists, 7 digs, 4 kills on .333 hitting, 1 service ace
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Ava Carlson: Team-high 6 service aces, 4 digs
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Maggie Lile: Team-high 8 digs, 2 assists
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Lilly Wynn: 6 kills, 3 block assists
UP NEXT
Up next, the Auggies visit Hamline University on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. at Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn.
