CHICAGO, Ill. --

The North Park women's volleyball team returned home on Tuesday evening, falling to the Augustana Vikings in five sets.

In their first set of the match, North Park took an early advantage. Initially a close set at 8-6 North Park went on a 54-5 run to widen their lead to 23-11.

Augustana would mark three straight points as NPU looked to finish the first set, but a well-managed timeout would right the ship as the Vikings of North Park secured the first set 25-14.

In the opening set, seniors Lauren Wiltsie and Kelly Clinton combined for 9 kills and just a single error.

In set 2, Augie responded in a large way. The visiting Vikings marked the first four points of the second set on kills from Sierra Erke and Grace Bialobok, coupled with a pair of NPU errors. North Park would stifle some momentum Augustana was gaining in the middle of the set, as a pair of kills by Wiltsie and Niki Ahlstrand put the Vikings within 1 at 14-13.

North Park would stay on the heels of Augustana through the second set, but the visiting Vikings would prevail in set 2 with a score of 25-20.

Initially a close third set at 14-14, the Vikings would mark six of the next seven points to capture a 20-15 lead. North Park took the third set, but Augie made it interesting with a close finish of 25-23.

In the fourth set, Augustana would come all the way back from a 24-20 deficit to tie up the fourth set at 24 all. Augie would take the one-point lead twice, but thunderous kills from Wiltsie would even the set up once more.

Unfortunately, North Park lost control of the final set on a pair of attack errors and set 4 went 32-30 in favor of Augustana.

The fifth and final set featured more of the Augustana attack. The visiting Vikings grabbed a 7-2 lead and, despite the late effort from North Park, ran away with the victory in come-from-behind fashion.

Quick Hits:

• Lauren Wiltsie finished with a season second-best 23 kills in tonight's match and 21 digs
• Kelly Clinton ended the night with a new match-high 12 kills and tacked on 3 service aces
• Kajsa Meyer also marked a new season-best 50 assists and 5 blocks
• Niki Ahlstrand also added 6 blocks and a pair of service aces
• Mia Riccolo's 20 digs tonight are her best since her Sept. 15 performance against Coe (23)

What's Next?

North Park (14-7, 2-3 CCIW) returns to action this Friday, October 12th where they will host their second Tri-match of the season; this time in the Helwig Recreation Center. The Vikings start off at 3:00 PM against the University of Dubuque, followed by Kalamazoo College at 7:00 PM. The pair of opponents will play a neutral match in between the two North Park matches.