Kevin Sethre, staff writer

The Augsburg Volleyball team continued their up-and-down season with a sweep against Saint Benedict on Oct. 9 to put an end to a two-game losing streak.

The Auggies upset UW-Stevens Point in straight sets on Sept. 29, but it was a lot closer than the score would indicate.  Augsburg won the first and third sets by scores of 25-23, as well as a second set win with a score of 25-22. The Pointers had the lead at various points in all three sets before the Auggies came back.  The two teams were very even in nearly every statistical category. Augsburg recorded 48 kills while Stevens Point had 47. Stevens Point had five aces while Augsburg had two. Stevens Point had five blocks while Augsburg had four. Augsburg had 46 assists while Stevens Point had 45. Lastly, Augsburg recorded 49 digs while Stevens Point had 44. The one big difference is that the Pointers committed six more errors than the Auggies, which resulted in their hitting percentage of .238 being much lower than Augsburg’s mark of .324.  Several Auggies played well such as Kevin Boysen and Maddie Nierengarten who led the Auggies in kills with 11 and 10, respectively, Lexie Lang recorded a game-high 37 assists, and Angel Khang had 27 digs to lead both teams.

Augsburg traveled to St. Paul to face Hamline two days later and won the first two sets before the Pipers took three straight to win the game.  The Auggies were dominant in the first set, winning 25-12 with a .370 hitting percentage thanks to only three errors.  They still played well in the second set and won 27-25, but they struggled in the last three and committed 23 combined errors and failed to record a hitting percentage over .100 as Hamline came from behind to win.

The struggles continued on their trip to St. Peter as they visited Gustavus, who won 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-20) and recorded ten aces during the game.

The losing streak came to an end with the win over the Bennies at Si Melby Hall.  Augsburg won the three sets by scores of 25-20, 25-22, and 28-26.  It was a tight game, and the two teams were close in most statistical categories, but the Auggies had five more blocks than Saint Benedict thanks in large part to Brianna Van Well’s season-high four blocks.  Kayla Gjerde led Augsburg with 11 kills, Izzy Barr recorded a team-high 24 assists, and Nierengarten led both teams with 19 digs.

The Auggies are currently tied for fifth in the MIAC with a 3-2 record. Jade Fullerton is currently second in the conference with 1.05 blocks per set.

The team is in action next against St. Olaf in an important game to shift the standings since St. Olaf is currently one game ahead of the Auggies in the MIAC standings, at Si Melby Hall at 7 PM on October 16th.