Box Score DUBUQUE, Iowa – The University of Dubuque women's volleyball team welcomed CCIW opponent, the Augustana College Vikings to Stoltz Sports Center for a Friday night non-conference clash. The Spartans (9-13, 3-2) battled with the Vikings (15-7) in a back-and-forth five set match where the visitors would leave with the victory (25-14, 23-25, 17-25, 25-6, 8-15).

In the opening set, the Spartans would get off to a fast start with an early 10-7 lead. The Spartans would then use an 11-0 run to bring their lead as big as 14 before closing out the first set 25-14. The Spartans limited the Vikings to a .038 attacking percentage whereas the Spartans attacked at a .250 clip. The second set would be a back-and-forth battle where there were 15 ties and seven lead changes throughout the set, but the opposition was able to edge out the Spartans 25-23 to even the match at 1-1.

The Spartans would jump out to an early 5-1 lead in the third set, but the Vikings would use a 14-6 run to lead 15-11 forcing the Spartans into the timeout. The Vikings would continue to attack well in the closing stages of the third set to win 25-17 and take the 2-1 set lead. Like the third set, the Spartans grabbed the early 6-2 advantage forcing the Vikings to take a timeout. Out of the timeout the Spartans would extend the lead to 14-5 forcing the Vikings into yet another timeout. The timeouts by the Vikings were unable to stop the Spartan momentum as they would finish the set allowing the Vikings to only score one point as they dominated the fourth set 25-6. The Spartans had one of their best attacking percentages for a single set this season attacking at a .387 mark.

The Spartans looked to extend their momentum into the winner-take-all fifth set, but the Vikings were able to attack more efficiently down the stretch winning the set 15-8 and the match.

Darby Hawtrey had a game-high 18 kills (.552%) and teammate Emma Powell was second with 17 kills. Kaylynn Murray led the Spartans with 27 assists and Maegan Brylski added 19. Emily Swanson defended well, leading the team with 2.5 blocks.

Up Next
The Spartans will face Edgewood College in Madison, Wis. next Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.