The Augustana Women’s Volleyball team took a loss on Friday, Oct. 11 with Millikin sweeping the Vikings in three straight sets.

“As a team we felt that it was a defense -oriented game for both sides and they had more points go their way than we did. We battled hard but we didn’t finish when we needed to,” junior Laura Heuermann said.

In the first set, Millikin struck first, giving them the early lead. The Vikings struggled to get a grip in the first set, falling behind 12-6.

Augie ended up coming within a point of the Big Blue after an attack error by Millikin made the score 17-16. However, after some back and forth play, the Vikings lost the first set 28-26.

Augustana was fueled by senior Grace Bialobok who led the team with 13 kills.  Junior Jessica Hguyen also had a strong presence for the Vikings. She led the squad in digs totally 20.   

The Vikings had a bit of communication issues in the beginning but nonetheless started strong, jumping out to a 20-13 lead looking to finish the set.

The Big Blue stood strong, however, and came roaring back to win the set 25-23.

Looking back on the second set, junior Laura Heuermann commented on what made them successful in the beginning.

“I always think that we play the best and feel the most prepared when everyone is in sync. The more communication, the better the results,” Heuermann said.

The third set was close with neither team giving up more than one point at a time. Augustana showed strong defensive skills, doing their best to keep Millikin from taking the lead.

Millikin took the lead after the set came to an 18-18 tie. They didn’t look back as they went on to close out the match by taking eight of the last nine points to win 25-19.

The Vikings played three close sets with the visiting Millikin Big Blue, and Hguyen found something to take away from the close contest.

“I think our strengths were sticking together as a team and not falling a part when we faced adversity,” Hguyen said. “Our front row players were doing a great job blocking Millikin’s hitters and slowing them down too.”

Millikin advanced their overall record to 12-9 and their conference record to 4-1.

Augustana’s overall record is now 9-12 and their conference record is 3-3.

“Sometimes we can have off nights but we’ve really done well this season working as a team. I think I speak for a lot of my teammates in saying that I hope we get to see Millikin later on this season,” Heuermann said.

Their next game is home on Oct. 19 vs Wisconsin-Platteville and Luther College.