Minneapolis, Minn. – After dropping the first two sets, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse volleyball team came back to defeat Augsburg University 3-2 (24-26, 19-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-12) at SI Melby Hall Saturday afternoon. The match was part of the Augsburg (Minn.) Invitational played Friday and Saturday.
With the win, the Eagles improve to 7-1 overall while the Auggies fall to 3-4.
In the first set, Augsburg took an early 7-3 lead before UWL would tie the score at 12. The teams would then exchange points with neither team taking a lead bigger than two the rest of the way. The first set featured 15 ties and 4 lead changes. Augsburg led the whole second set with its largest lead coming at 11-6 before UWL cut the score to 11-10. However, that would be as close as the Eagles would get as the Auggies scored six of the next nine points (17-13).
The Auggies controlled the start of the third set as they built a 17-14 lead. However, the Eagles finished the set on an 11-3 run to win 25-20.
Emma Lawrence led the Eagles in the third set with five kills while
Brianne Korducki and
Anna Rossner each added four kills.
With the score tied 5-5 early in the fourth set, UWL went on a 6-0 run to take its largest lead at 11-6.
Megan Adams recorded two aces during the run for the Eagles. Augsburg used an 8-2 run to take the lead back at 18-16 but that lead would be short lived. After tying the score at 19, UWL scored six of the final nine points to win the fourth set 25-22.
Neither team could take control early in the fifth set as the score was tied at 6-6. UWL would gain control as they took a 10-7 lead after three hitting errors by Augsburg. The Auggies cut the deficit to 11-10 but that would be as close as they would get as UWL finished the fifth set on a 5-2 run.
Lawrence led the Eagles with 20 kills while Korducki finished with 10.
Liz Lansink and
Gabrialla Johnson each chipped in seven kills. The 20 kills for Lawrence was a match high for the season.
Jackie Oetterer finished with 21 assists while Adams added 19 assists. The Eagles defense had four players in double figures in digs with Lawrence leading the way with a career high 22 digs while
Sydney Fedderly finished with 19. The double-double (20 kills, 22 digs) was Lawrence's first of the season.
Lawrence was one of seven players named to the all-tournament team at the conclusion of action.
Jade Fullerton led the Auggies with 13 kills while Kevin Boysen finished with 11 and Kayla Gjerde added 10. Lexie Lang finished with 30 assists while Angel Khang had 18 digs.
UWL returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to UW-Stout for its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener. Match time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
