NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team dropped a tight three-set match, 25-22, 25-23, 32-20, to visiting No. 18-ranked Augsburg University in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play on Saturday afternoon at Skoglund Center.

Augsburg (15-5, 4-3 MIAC) pulled even with St. Olaf (11-11, 4-3 MIAC) in the conference standings by winning each of the three sets by three points or fewer, finishing off the win in an extended third set. The loss dropped the Oles, who were coming off a five-set win over Bethel University the night before, to 1-4 against nationally-ranked teams this season.

Kevin Boysen and Kayla Gjerde combined for 27 kills and each hit over .340 in the win for the Auggies, who hit .268 as a team in the match. Juniors Anysia Caille and Catherine Moore, as well as fifth-year senior Katelyn Lannom, all had 11 kills for the Oles, who posted a .211 attack percentage. With her 11-kill performance, Lannom moved up three spots to No. 15 in recorded program history with 1,031 kills for her career.

First year Paige Christophersen recorded 22 assists and classmate Taylin Gosch added 18 for St. Olaf, which got 12 digs from first year Morgan Ryan and 10 digs and six assists from senior Selena Rodriguez.

The Oles overcame an early 7-3 deficit in the opening set to take a 14-11 lead and force a timeout by the Auggies after a 5-0 St. Olaf run. Augsburg used an 8-2 run late in the set to build a 23-20 lead and closed out the set from there to grab the opener. The Auggies held the Oles to a .132 clip, although St. Olaf got five kills apiece from Caille and Moore in the set.

In set two, St. Olaf led 14-13 before Augsburg put together another 8-2 run to grab a 21-16 advantage. The Oles battled back late in the set, closing the gap to 24-23 after saving back-to-back set points on kills by Lannom, but Boysen gave the visitors a two-set lead with a kill on wrap up the set.

The third set featured a remarkable 20 ties and saw both teams hit over .350 before Augsburg finally finished off the sweep by a 32-30 margin in a set that neither team led by more than two points at any point. St. Olaf had set points at 24-23, 25-24, and 26-25 but could not convert before saving match points at 27-26, 28-27, 29-28, and 30-29. After senior Nicole Banitt tied the set at 30-30 with a kill, a kill by Boysen brought up the fifth match point for the Auggies, who escaped with the three-set win on an attack error by the Oles.

St. Olaf plays four of its final five regular-season matches on the road, starting with a trip to the College of Saint Benedict on Friday, Oct. 21 for a 7 p.m. match in St. Joseph.