Jackson Gerber, Sports Editor

Augsburg’s season came to a close last Friday afternoon as they were defeated by defending national champions Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College in the first round of the NCAA Division-III national tournament.

The fifth-ranked team in the nation had a strong offensive performance, hitting a mind-boggling .429 on the afternoon. Augsburg could not keep up, hitting .198 which is below their season average. Megan Quam led the Auggie attack with eight kills followed closely by Jade Boysen who had six. Morgan Malley tallied 23 assists, and Macey Terhell picked up nine digs on the night.

The Auggies will say goodbye to three very talented seniors in Morgan Malley, Macey Terhell and Stephanie Hechsel. Malley became the second player in program history to record 2,000+ assists and 1,000+ digs in her career. As a setter, her 2,861 assists put her at fourth in school records. Terhell will leave as the best defender and libero in Augsburg history. She never missed a game (117 matches) in her illustrious four-year career. Her 2,339 career digs as well as her 5.34 career digs per set are both school records. Stephanie Hechsel turned into one of the Auggies’ most reliable defenders in her junior and senior years, racking up 372 digs in 73 career matches.

Four Auggies earned All-MIAC Honors. Terhell earned All-MIAC honors for the third consecutive year while Malley and Corrina Evans each earned All-MIAC honors for the second consecutive year. Hechsel was named to the All-MIAC sportsmanship team. Terhell and Malley also earned All-Region honors as well as All-American honorable mention honors.

Augsburg finished with their most wins (22) since the 2014 season. They will need to replace veteran leadership on the defensive side, but their offense will be as fierce as ever, returning all their top hitters and blockers next year. Congratulations on an outstanding season.

This article was originally published in the Nov. 16, 2018 issue. 

Augsburg volleyball poised to make a play. Photo by Silvia Cha.