MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team staged a comeback late in the fourth set to end Augsburg University's comeback bid and record a 25-16, 25-20, 18-25, 28-26 victory over the Auggies in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opener for both teams on Wednesday evening at Si Melby Hall.
 
St. Olaf (9-1, 1-0 MIAC) claimed the first two sets before Augsburg (8-2, 0-1 MIAC) won the third and was a point away from sending the match to a deciding fifth set. Trailing 24-19 in the fourth, however, the Oles had other ideas, extending the fourth set by winning six-straight points before eventually closing out the match in four.
 
The victory was St. Olaf's fifth in a row, as the Oles defeated the Auggies for the second-straight season. Prior to last season's five-set win in Northfield, Augsburg had won six-straight matches in the series. The win was also St. Olaf's first at Si Mellby Hall since Oct. 8, 2010.
 
With the Oles down 24-19 in the fourth, an Alison Curry kill and consecutive Augsburg errors prompted an Augsburg timeout with the hosts' lead trimmed to two. Out of the timeout, senior Megan Grimes provided consecutive kills to even it at 24-24 before Curry and Lexi Wall teamed up for a block to give the Oles a match point.
 
After the teams alternated winning the next three points to leave the score locked at 26-26, sophomore Morgan Marxer delivered a no-look, over-the-shoulder kill that landed inside the left sideline to bring up another match points for the Oles. This time, St. Olaf converted on junior Lauren Rewers' 18th kill of the match off the right side.
 
Rewers and Grimes tied for match-high honors with 18 kills apiece in the victory, with Rewers also contributing 13 digs. Wall joined Rewers with a double-double, recording 42 assists and a career-high 20 digs, as did Summer Reid with 11 kills and 16 digs.
 
The Oles limited the Auggies to a hitting percentage of .097 for the match thanks in part to 85 digs, 24 of which came from junior Haley Langeslag. Only one Augsburg hitter reached double-digit kills in the match, compared to three for St. Olaf.
 
St. Olaf hit .273 in the opening set and held Augsburg to a -.057 clip to win the set comfortably, 25-16.  The Oles broke open an 8-8 tie by winning eight of nine points, including three kills by Rewers, who had six kills in the set. Augsburg closed a 19-11 deficit to 19-14, but could get no closer.
 
Back-to-back aces by Wall capped an 8-0 start to the second set for St. Olaf, which also included three kills by Grimes. The Auggies fought their way back to trail just 15-13 before the Oles won four-straight points to go back up six. Grimes had five kills in the second set, as St. Olaf went up by two sets.
 
The third set belonged to Augsburg, as the hosts held the Oles to a .000 hitting percentage to avoid the sweep. For the second set in a row, Grimes had five kills to pace St. Olaf. The Auggies raced out to a 7-2 lead early on and never trailed in the set, using a 5-0 run midway through the set to lead 17-9 on their way to sending the match to a fourth set.
 
Augsburg took control of the fourth set early on with a 7-0 run that started with the Oles ahead 9-6. Later in the set, the hosts won five-straight points to take a 19-11 advantage, but St. Olaf forced an Augsburg timeout by winning the next four points to close within four, setting the stage for the late-set comeback.
 
St. Olaf aims to keep its winning streak alive when it travels to Bethel University for matches against UW-Stout (11 a.m.) and Luther (1 p.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 15.