Chicago, Ill. – In a battle of Vikings, the North Park University women's volleyball team took down Augustana College by a score of 3-1 (25-16, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23) Tuesday night at NPU Gymnasium.
North Park sprinted out of the gates in the first set as a kill from Brilynd Pence put the serve in the hands of Kaitlyn Chess. Chess would grab an ace on three of her next four serves to catapult the home Vikings to a 9-2 lead. From there, North Park kept the lead until another kill from Pence helped them win the first set by nine points.
The second set was a much more back-and-forth affair, with there being 11 ties and eight lead changes. Late in the set, Jewel Schroeder slapped a kill off a set from Christina Gatta to give NPU a 19-18 advantage. It was another kill that got North Park to set point, and after Augustana scored one, the ensuing serve went long to put NPU up 2-0.
Augustana took the third set and had North Park on the ropes in the fourth with a 7-3 lead early, but the resilient home side would not stay down for long. Soon enough, an Emily Nytko kill would have NPU up 13-10. A little later, a kill by Taylor Guy and an attacking error by Augustana put North Park up 18-14. Augie hadn't had its final say yet and the visitors answered with six straight to go up 20-18. The sides exchanged blows and found themselves squared up at 22 before two kills from Kate Widman and a finisher from Guy cemented the North Park victory.
Quick Hits:
What's Next?
The Vikings of North Park (1-1, 1-1 CCIW) will continue their spring season on Friday, March 19th as they take on Wheaton College (1-2, 1-2 CCIW). That match will start at 7 p.m. at NPU Gymnasium.
