No. 14 Augustana University volleyball won its second straight match over an opponent ranked in the top-5 nationally in under a week with a 3-1 win over No. 4 Wayne State on Tuesday night at the Elmen Center.
The Vikings (10-1, 3-0 NSIC) dropped the first set 25-22 but rallied to win the next three by scores of 25-11, 25-20, 25-0 over the fourth-ranked Wildcats (9-2, 1-2 NSIC).
Augustana defeated Southwest Minnesota State on the road last Thursday in five sets.SMSU was ranked fourth in the country at the time.
Courtney Place matched her season-high with 21 kills to lead the offensive attack for the Vikings while registering a season-high 16 digs. Hanna Justesen added 13 kills for the Vikings while Brittany Cech added a double, finishing with 10 kills and 14 digs. Anna Sykora paced the offense with 53 assists and registered her sixth double-double of the season adding 15 digs. Sykora has handed out 50 or more assists in four matches in 2016. Tahlyr Banks added 27 digs and five assists, marking her ninth match of the season with 20 or more digs.
Wayne State was led by Michaela Mestl who finished with 13 kills and 21 digs. Augustana finished the night with seven blocks and the defense held strong, holding the Wildcats to a .160 attack percentage.
