The Augustana men’s volleyball team hosted two matches against the Clarke University Pride and CCIW foe, the Carthage College Firebirds. With the team nearing midseason and more conference games, winning at least one of the matches would give the team a boost, and that they did.

On March 3, the team defeated Clarke in four sets and moved to 7-1 at home. The Vikings took the first two sets, including a tightly contested first frame, where they narrowly won 26-24, and a less contested second frame, 25-15. In the third frame, Clarke proved they were not going to go away easily, as the Pride took the set 25-19. In the fourth frame, the Vikings came back and won 25-20.

On March 7, the Vikings faced a tougher opponent in Carthage, the No. 3 team in the country. In the opening set, Augustana stayed close and traded points with the opponent early, but the Firebirds managed to pull away to win 25-20. After Carthage easily won the second set, 25-12, the third frame went past regulation as both teams pushed each other to the limit, but Carthage came away with a 30-28 win and the sweep. 

With the loss, Augustana moves to 8-5 and 2-2 in CCIW play. The team will play their next match on Wednesday, March 11, when they travel to Bloomington to face off against Illinois Wesleyan University.