ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Northern State University Wolves, fresh off a hard-fought 3-1 loss to third-ranked Wayne State on Saturday, came into Saturday's match looking for their first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win of the season.

NSU got off to a good start, claiming a 25-22 win in the first set, but dropped the final three of the night (18-25, 21-25, 23-25) to give up a 3-1 decision to the visiting Augustana College Vikings.

The loss drops NSU to 8-6 overall and 0-5 in NSIC play.  The Vikings moved to 8-5 on the year and a perfect 4-0 in the conference.

The Wolves battled through 12 ties and five lead changes in the opening stanza before finally pulling away from a 21-all tie to take the lead for good on a Viking setting error and back-to-back kills by junior outside hitter Amber Bloom to make it a 24-21 affair.  Bloom went down with a knee injury on the second of those kills and did not return in the remainder of the match.

The two teams traded service errors to end the set.

The Vikings turned the tables in the second set, staying just ahead of the Wolves through the first portion before pulling away to take a six-point lead at 16-10.  Augustana extended that lead to 23-16 late, then put it away on a Jordan Spatenka kill to send the match into the break tied at one set apiece.

Set three reverted to the competitive pace of the opening set as the two teams battled through nine ties and four lead changes.  The Vikings then took a 4-1 lead in the fourth and final set and managed to stay one step ahead for the duration to escape with the 25-23 set win and 3-1 match victory.

NSU junior Konefesi Vaisigano notched a game-best 16 kills on 39 attempts to lead the NSU offensive effort.  Senior Kayla Ysteboe added nine kills, as did senior Jordan Schaffer.  Megan Gilbraith served up 29 assists and 12 digs, while freshman Paula Martins continued her strong play at the net, finishing with four blocks on the night.

The Vikings got a balanced net attack with three players in double kill figures.  Lindsey Peterson came off the bench to put down 13, while Taylor Hrdlichka and Spatenka added 12 and 11, respectively.  Dani Haley guided the attack with 43 assists and six kills of her own.

The Wolves now take to the road for four straight matches beginning next weekend at Upper Iowa and Winona State.