Box Score MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran volleyball team hosted Augsburg on Wednesday night and dropped a 3-1 decision to the visitors. With the loss the Vikings fall to 7-10 overall while the Auggies move to 8-8.
The first set would play very back and forth with neither team grabbing more than a two-point lead in the early stages. With Bethany holding an 11-10 edge the Auggies would make a massive run, scoring 11 of the next 14 to take a 21-14 advantage and eventually taking the set 25-16.
After the Vikings would get out to a strong start and gain a quick three point lead in the second, the Auggies would make it vanish by climbing to a 13-11 lead midway through the set. The two teams would play to a score of 15 apiece before Bethany would take over by scoring six straight and eventually taking the set 25-19.
The third would play even from the jump with the Vikings controlling a small lead through the early stages of the frame. After Bethany claimed a 15-12 lead, the Auggies gave them payback from set two, scoring seven of the next eight to lead 19-16 before putting the set away 25-20.
Bethany would come out strong in the fourth, as they would take an early 8-1 lead. They would slowly see the Auggies clawing back in as they scored nine of the next 12 to bring the score to 11-10 in favor of the Vikings. Augsburg would eventually tie things up at 15 apiece, before the two teams would trade runs of three to an 18-18 score. Two from the Vikings was answered by four in a row from the Auggies as they took a 22-20 lead, but the Vikings would respond with consecutive points to even the score. The visitors would then rattle off two more to force match point, with a kill from
Maddie Meyer re-cutting the deficit to one before an Auggie kill ended the match.
Lilly Mehrkens led the Vikings in this one with 15 kills, while Meyer also hit double digits with 11.
Abby Distad set a new career best with 41 assists in the match, while
Maddi Wendland posted a team-best 14 digs.
The Vikings will be back in action on Friday when they travel to Minnesota Morris for a 7 p.m. contest.
