Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – After taking the first two sets of the night, Northern State had more than one chance to close out the visiting Augustana College Vikings, but instead watched the Vikings snatch victory from their grasp in a heartbreaking 3-2 loss (25-23, 25-14, 26-28, 22-25, 13-15) Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball action.
 
NSU, which was looking to bounce back from a four-set setback to No. 10 Wayne State on Friday night, slipped to 11-10 overall and 6-8 in NSIC play while the Vikings moved to 13-9 on the season and an even 7-7 in the loop.
 
The Wolves came out of the gates a little slow, but managed to erase a late five-point deficit and steal away a 25-23 victory.  NSU was down 19-14 in the late going, but the late rally went un-thwarted by two Viking timeouts, the second of which came after back-to-back NSU stuff blocks and a Macy Finizio kill made it a 21-20 game.  The Wolves capped the win on a kill from Claire Kopfmann.
 
NSU bolted to a 12-3 lead in the second set and cruised to the 25-14 victory to go up two sets to none heading into the mid-match intermission.
 
Set three nearly turned into déjà vu for the Vikings, who used a 7-1 run midway through the set to go up 17-12 only to see the Wolves come roaring back to force a tie at 21-all.  The Wolves' first chance to close out the match came after another Kopfmann kill – her first and only kill of the set – made it 24-23, but the Vikings staved off the threat and forced a fourth set on a Brooke Lewko kill and a Lewko-Lindsey Peterson block.
 
The Vikings also staved off the Wolves in set four, pulling away late and adding to the drama with a fifth and decisive final set.
 
As in set two, the Wolves raced out to a big early lead, going up 9-2 and forcing the Vikings to burn both of their timeouts before either team had reached double digits.  Augustana, however, would not go quietly, using a 6-1 run to claw back into contention.  A final 5-1 run to close out the set and match was the final dagger to the heart.
 
NSU got a big 20-kill, .432 attack percentage, seven-block effort from sophomore middle blocker Paula Martins and a 53 assist, seven-block performance from freshman setter Morgan Richardson, but were unable to capitalize on the solid outings from their youngsters.  Freshman Macey Finizio added 12 kills, while seniors Kaili Aiono and Amber Bloom chipped in ten kills apiece.  Sami Nygaard and junior libero Ella Campbell joined the defensive effort with 30 and 26 digs apiece, while Bloom racked up four service aces.
 
The Vikings were paced by 22 kills from Jordan Spatenka, while Dani Haley handed out 52 assists on 65 total Viking kills.  Kayla Wallerich had 29 digs to lead five players with 11 or more defensive dig-ups.
 
After playing seven of their last nine matches at home, the Wolves now take to the road for four straight matches, starting next weekend when NSU travels to Minnesota-Duluth for a showdown with another AVCA Top 10 team.  The Wolves also face Bemidji State on Saturday.