Vikings fall in four sets to Seawolves

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Augustana) – The Augustana volleyball team dropped their final game of the Augustana Classic in four sets to the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (17-25, 25-18, 19-25, 18-25) on Saturday at the Sanford Pentagon.

Following the opening weekend of the season, the Vikings are now 2-2.

Brooke Berens and Reagan Jansen led the attack for Augustana, finishing with 14 and 10 kills, respectively. Maya Wente hit at a clip of .412 alongside five blocks as Lucy Bartee dished out 40 assists with two aces.

The Vikings tallied 43 kills, 53 digs and 10 blocks in the contest.

Set one started with a strong Seawolves offensive as they opened with a 6-1 lead. Augustana responded with a 3-0 highlighted by back-to-back kills from Berens and Jansen, but Alaska Anchorage remained hot on the attack and pushed the score to 16-9. The Vikings added another three straight points following a timeout but a 5-1 run from the Seawolves helped solidify enough distance to take the set 25-17.

Augustana responded in the second set, scoring their first four points off kills from Sydney Tims , Berens and Jansen. A 4-0 run from the Vikings made it an 11-5 lead but Alaska Anchorage soon cut it to a three-point difference midway through the set and again to make it 20-17. But Augustana scored the final five points to close the set 25-18.

The Vikings and Seawolves were tightly matched in the beginning of the third set until a five-point and three-point streak from Alaska Anchorage soon made it a 12-6 game. Augustana slowly but surely chipped away at the lead to cut it to a 19-18 deficit, but five straight points soon shut down the momentum reached and ended it 25-19.

Set four started with an 8-4 lead for the Vikings before a 5-1 run from the Seawolves stopped the charge. Augustana again hit back with four straight points off of attacks and an ace from Tims to make it a 16-15 game. But Alaska Anchorage responded with a 10-2 run of their own to take the final set with a score of 25-18.

Viking volleyball will return to action next week in Idaho at the NNU Nighthawk Invitational, beginning Thursday at 3 p.m. against Northwest

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com.