ROMEOVILLE, Ill. (Sept. 3) – The Central Washington University volleyball team fell to Augustana University (S.D.) in five sets in the third match of the Flyer Festival, 2-3 (25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 22-25, 14-16.  Central is now 0-3 on the year.
 
The Wildcats stormed out to a 6-1 lead in the first set with kills from Erin Little, Kiah Jones, and Madison Weg.  Weg also recorded a pair of blocks in the opening seven points.
 
She finished the match with a match high 18 kills.  Weg had a hitting efficiency of .395, while adding two solo blocks and seven block assists.
 
 The Vikings drew close and evened the first set at 13-13 on a block by Ashley Wilson and Courtney Place.  Weg gave Central back its lead with a kill on the next point, 14-13.  Her kill sparked a six-point run for the Wildcats and a 19-13 lead.
 
Augustana tried to battle back, but the Wildcats held on with a kill by Shelby Mauritson closing out the first set, 25-20.
 
The Wildcats jumped ahead again in the second set, 5-2.  They advanced their lead to 9-4 on a kill by Jones. After the Vikings notched three consecutive points to pull within one, 15-14, the Wildcats responded with three of their own and an 18-14 lead.  Central claimed points in pairs to close the second set, 25-21.
 
A 6-4 advantage to open the third set was erased by Augustana with back-to-back points.  The Wildcats responded by claiming a 13-8 lead with a kills from Jordan Deming and Erin Little, as well as blocks by Weg and Little.
 
The Vikings found stride and claimed points in streaks, moving to a 25-23 set victory and a 2-1 match heading to the fourth set.
 
Augustana's 6-3 lead in the fourth evaporated at 9-9 on an attack error by Hannah Justensen.  Two points later, Weg evened the set again at 10-10.
 
The Wildcats kept the set close, including pulling within one late at 22-21 with three-straight points.   The Vikings held on for a 25-22 set win, levelling the set at 2-2.
 
Central held the lead for the majority of the final set, but were unable to hang on for the win. 
 
Mauritson finished with 14 kills and 22 digs.  Kyla Morgan notched 20 digs.  Freshmen setters Gaby Aihara and Nikole Cook dished out 30 and 20 assists respectively.
 
The Wildcats have one final match in the Flyer Festival against host school No. 18 Lewis University at 5:30 p.m. CDT.