NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team outlasted No. 11 Augsburg University in a five-set thriller, 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, 23-25, 17-15, saving two match points to hand the Auggies their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) loss of the season on Wednesday evening at Skoglund Center.

After Augsburg (13-3, 3-1 MIAC) rallied to win the fourth set, St. Olaf (17-3, 1-2 MIAC) built an 11-7 lead in the decider, only for the Auggies to rally and take a 14-13 lead. The Oles saved a pair of match points to even the set at 15-15 and won the final three points of the match to seal their first win over a ranked team since sweeping No. 19 Cornell on Sept. 9, 2017.

Senior Lauren Rewers tallied a match-high 18 kills to lead three Oles in double figures on the night. Sophomore Katelyn Lannom added 16 kills, while hitting .406, and junior Summer Reid totaled 10 kills and 10 digs.

Junior Lexi Wall assisted on 51 of St. Olaf's 58 kills in the match and added 19 digs for her fourth-straight double-double. Senior Emily Jarnigan recorded a match-high 30 digs, reaching the 30-dig mark for the second time this season, while junior Jordan Melz pitched in with 15 digs.

Augsburg raced out to a 6-0 run to start the opening set, but St. Olaf quickly regrouped to get within 7-6 with a 6-1 run. Trailing 17-14 later in the set, the Oles went on a 7-0 run take their first lead of the set, with the Auggies burning both their timeouts during the run. Rewers had five kills on nine errorless swings in the set, as St. Olaf won four of the final five points to take it, 25-20.

Like the first set, the Auggies got out to a quick lead in the second set, winning five of the first six points. Midway through the set, Augsburg went on a 5-0 run to break a 9-9 tie thanks to three-straight aces by Kim Lindgren. Down 18-11, St. Olaf won five points in a row to get within two and got as close as one twice, before Augsburg won the last two points to tie it at a set apiece.

After having two kills each in the first two sets, Reid and classmate Morgan Marxer each recorded four kills in the third set, which the Oles took, 25-21, to take the lead back. With the teams even at 16-16, St. Olaf won six consecutive points in the decisive run of the set and held off a late Augsburg rally that saw the visitors trim a 22-16 deficit to two, 23-21, before a kill by Marxer and an ace by Jarnigan.

Looking to close out the match in four, the Oles led 18-10 in the fourth set until the Auggies generated a rally. Augsburg took its first lead of the set at 22-21 and sent the match the distance after winning 15 of the final 20 points of the set.

Despite being outhit percentage-wise in the fifth, St. Olaf found a way to win the set that featured 10 ties and five lead changes. A 6-1 run around the change of sides gave the Oles an 11-7 lead, but the Auggies clawed their way back to tie it up at 12-12.

St. Olaf fought off match points down 14-13 on an Augsburg service error before Lannom saved another with a kill with the Oles down 15-14. Lannom's second-straight kill gave St. Olaf its first match point, which was all the Oles needed as an attack error gave St. Olaf its third-straight win in the series.

Kayla Gjerde and Corrina Evans each had 15 kills for Augsburg, which owns two wins over top-five-ranked teams this season. Setter Lexie Lang registered 35 assists and 13 digs and was one of five Auggies in double digits in digs.

St. Olaf hosts the University of Northwestern (Minn.) on Friday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.