Northern State put Augustana into a hole and never let them out of it Saturday afternoon at Wachs Arena.
The Wolves played with a lead for nearly the entire match on the way to a 25-19, 25-21, 27-25 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball sweep.
Northern bounced back from a loss to Wayne State on Friday night, and built leads in both of the first two sets against the Vikings. While the visitors went on four-point surges in both of those sets, the Wolves never lost their leads in taking a two-set advantage.
“It’s really nice to have a cushion, especially after coming off of (Friday) night,” said NSU libero Ashley Yost. “I think it was really good getting up two sets against Augie. We really didn’t know what to expect. We knew that they were a good team.”
The Wolves scored the final five points of the second set to pull away from a 20-20 tie as Katelyn Schroeder collected a pair of kills and Ava Nilsson served a set-clinching ace.
“You’re gambling with house money when you have that lead, but we made enough plays in both the second and third sets,” said Wolves coach Brent Aldridge. “It’s not always bad to have those tight battles.”
The final set was close the entire way, with the score tied 15 times. Northern saved two set points, including one where two Augie players ran into each other and the ball landed on the floor.
“You need a little bit of luck,” Aldridge said. “When (Maya) Wente ran into (Kiylah) Franke right there, that was a big point for us. It tied it.”
Schroeder then put an end to the afternoon with her 13th kill of the day.
The Wolves figured it would be a tightly contested match, because that’s a way of life in the conference.
“We know any game in the NSIC is going to be really challenging,” Yost said, “so I think coming into this game and knowing that we have to put our all out there and knowing that we have to work just as hard as we did (Friday) night against Wayne, really helped us get that lead.”
Linnea Nesheim led the Wolves with 17 kills. Morrisen Samuels finished with seven.
“Mo was good today,” Aldridge said. “She only got 11 swings, killed seven.”
Samuels is coming off of multiple knee surgeries and missed the entire last season.
“It was a really long process for me. I had three knee surgeries in the past year and a half, so it was a really tough time for me to try to get back, but I don’t mind watching our team,” Samuels said. “Our team is great and I always felt included in them and was able to lead while on the bench as well.”
She said she gained a different perspective on the game while being forced to sit out last season.
“Sitting out definitely showed me a lot about our defense and blocking,” Samuels said. “I feel like I learned a lot more from that.”
Yost helped to anchor the Northern defense and collected a dozen digs on the day. She said having a stellar front row makes a big difference.
“I think it helps having such a good block up in the front row. That can really help us as back row to read and anticipate where they’re going to go,” Yost said. “But then also just getting stops on defense and going after balls, even if you don’t think you can get them, if you can get a touch, knowing that somebody else on the team will be able to go and also get that ball. It’s really nice in the back row knowing that my teammates have my back.”
After dropping a match on Friday night, Saturday’s contest was a key one for the Wolves, who improved to 12-5 overall and 7-2 in the NSIC.
“This one was super big,” Samuels said. “We always want to split if we lose to a tough team … so this was a really important match for us to take care of.”
Northern will now hit the road for more conference matches at Sioux Falls on Friday and at Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday.
“The next one on the list is Sioux Falls and they’re good,” Aldridge said. “I know their record isn’t great, but they’re good. They’ve already ran the gauntlet.”
To see a complete box score, click on the following link:
https://nsuwolves.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2026/augustana-university/boxscore/14674
