Vikings fall to nationally-ranked Wayne State College

The Augustana Vikings volleyball team lost 3-0 to the No. 8-ranked Wayne State College Wildcats on Oct. 17 in Wayne, Nebraska. 

The Vikings fell 9-10 on the season, with an even 5-5 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference record. The matchup against Wayne State marks the fourth consecutive nationally-ranked opponent the team has faced. 

Having lost four of the last five games in October, Head Coach Jennifer Jacobs said the team is in a “tough stretch.” 

“Going into the match, we felt really good, and we started off really well,” Jacobs said. “We were even up until nine, ten points in all of the sets, and then [Wayne State] would make a push, and we just couldn’t quite respond.”

The Vikings and the Wildcats were tied four times throughout the first set before sophomore outside hitter Reagan Jansen and junior middle hitter Maya Wente gave the Vikings a 9-5 lead following two kills each. The Wildcats front row quickly regrouped, winning the first set 25-14 over the Vikings.

“As a whole, our team was really excited because Wayne [State] is a super competitive team,” junior middle and outside hitter Sydney Tims said. “We did a good job of starting off sets one and three specifically, but [the team] has struggled a little bit in the past to start off well.” 

Tims played through all three sets, racking up five kills, committing two attack errors and had 12 total attempts, which is the sum of kills, errors and zero attacks. 

Augustana kept up with Wayne State at the start of the second set with six ties before the Wildcats took a 14-9 lead and never looked back. 

Going into the third set, Augustana was down 2-0 and needed to secure a win or they would be swept. Freshman outside hitter Lucy Belisle gave the Vikings an early 4-1 lead. The Wildcats would come from behind and regain the lead 7-6. The gap gradually favored the Wildcats after they broke away on the 13-point, despite numerous attempts from Jansen, Wente, Belisle and junior middle blocker Brooke Berens to keep the ball alive. The set concluded with a final score of 25-16, Wildcats. 

Overall, the Vikings tallied 33 kills, 31 assists and 47 digs. Jansen led the effort with nine kills and 10 digs, almost earning a double-double. Senior setter Lucy Bartee contributed 27 assists and sophomore libero Gabby Jones recorded 17 digs. 

“The general consensus from all of us going into that game was that we have nothing to lose, we might as well do something crazy,” Bartee said. “I think I had one of the best games ever as far as putting hitters where they needed to be and making some good plays on defense.”

The Vikings returned home to host the University of Sioux Falls on Oct. 19, bouncing back by sweeping the Cougars 3-0 for the first time since 2019. Overall, the Vikings stand 10-10 on the season and 6-5 in the conference. 

With eight games remaining in the regular season, Jacobs is looking forward to the future as the team continues to grow throughout matches and desires to take on ranked opponents in the postseason. 

The Vikings will take on Minnesota State University Moorhead to close out regular season play on Nov. 16 in Moorhead, Minnesota.