WINONA, Minn. — The Augsburg University volleyball team closed its 2026 season with a five-set Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at Saint Mary's University on Saturday. The match marked the final collegiate contest for eight Augsburg seniors —
Ava Carlson,
Gwynn Gorter,
Grace Hamilton,
Jovial King,
Maggie Lile,
Lola Pilon,
Elise Uphoff and
Teagan Walter.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Augsburg def. Saint Mary's 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 14-25, 15-11)
LOCATION: David R. Thies Arena, Winona, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 10-16 overall (5-6 MIAC), Saint Mary's 15-14 overall (4-7 MIAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
King closed her career as one of the top setters in Augsburg history. With 38 assists and 14 digs, she claimed her 19th assist-dig double-double of the season and 40th of her collegiate career. She finished her career (111 matches, 404 sets) fourth in school history with 2,704 career assists, along with 935 career digs
Augsburg took the first point of the first set on a Saint Mary's attack error, but the Cardinals answered with four straight and later built a 13-7 lead. The Auggies worked back into the set behind kills from
Lilly Wynn,
Ameerah Rogers and
Taliah Triggs, then moved from a 19-14 deficit to 19-18 with help from
Aloaha Ricke and a King block. Saint Mary's reached set point at 24-23, but Triggs tied it with a kill, Uphoff served an ace, and a Cardinals attack error finished the Auggies' 26-24 set win.
After early ties at 1-1 and 2-2, Saint Mary's took control of the second set with five straight points, using Kali Olson's serve and an Ayla Olson block to move ahead 7-2. The Auggies cut the gap to 11-8 with a Rogers ace and two Cardinals attack errors, but the home team pushed the margin back to 19-12 behind kills from Maddie Baker and Ayla Olson. Augsburg later narrowed a 21-15 deficit to 21-19 with a Saint Mary's service error, a Ricke block, Ricke kill and another Rogers ace. The Auggies stayed within one twice late, including at 24-23 on a Wynn kill from King, before Brianna Hanneken's kill closed the set for the Cardinals3.
Pilon served consecutive aces and Triggs added a kill to push Augsburg from 3-3 to 6-3 in the third set. Saint Mary's tied it at 6-6, but kills by King and Ricke helped the Auggies rebuild a 10-6 lead before the home team later scored four straight points to move ahead 15-14. After the teams traded points to 16-16, Pilon served Augsburg University through a four-point run that included a Triggs kill, a Pilon ace and a King kill for a 20-16 advantage. The Cardinals cut the Auggies' 24-21 lead to 24-23 late, but Wynn finished the set with a kill from King for a 25-23 Augsburg win.
Saint Mary's scored the first three points of the fourth set on an Augsburg attack error and kills by Ava Berg and Kali Olson, but the Auggies got early kills from Wynn, Rogers and Triggs and were within 7-5 after a Cardinals attack error. Saint Mary's stretched the margin from there, using an Ayla Olson kill, an Ayla Olson ace and another Augsburg attack error to reach 10-5, then moving ahead 15-8 behind kills from Berg and Kali Olson and another Auggies error. After Wynn's kill made it 15-9, the Cardinals scored four straight on an Ayla Olson kill, a Kali Olson ace, another Ayla Olson kill and an Augsburg University setting error for a 19-9 lead; the Auggies later added a Pilon ace and kills from Rogers and Wynn before Saint Mary's closed the set 25-14 with consecutive Augsburg attack errors.
After Hamilton put Augsburg in front 2-1 in the final set, Carlson served an ace and the Auggies built a 7-3 lead behind two Triggs kills and a King kill. Saint Mary's pulled back within 7-5, but Augsburg University answered with a King block, a Rogers kill, a Hamilton kill and a Cardinals attack error to move ahead 11-6. The Auggies led 13-8 after another Hamilton kill and a Saint Mary's setting error, before the Cardinals scored three straight to cut the margin to 13-11.
Marley Mitchell stopped the run with a kill from King, and Lile finished the fifth set with a kill from Hamilton for a 15-11 Augsburg win.
AUGSBURG TOP PERFORMERS
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Jovial King: 38 assists, 14 digs, 4 blocks, including 3 solo, 4 kills on .364 hitting
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Maggie Lile: 22 digs
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Lola Pilon: 4 service aces, 11 digs
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Taliah Triggs: 14 kills, 6 digs
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Lilly Wynn: 12 kills on .265 hitting, 6 digs
