BEMIDJI, Minn.  – The Bemidji State University volleyball team gave No. 22 Augustana College all it could handle, but fell short, 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 26-28, 13-15) Saturday at BSU Gymnasium. With the loss the Beavers fall to 2-9 overall and 0-3 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play, while Augustana improves to 9-2 overall and 2-1 in league play.

Bemidji State started slowly in the first, as Augustana scored the first four points in the frame, which forced BSU head coach Wayne Chadwick to burn an early timeout. Following the timeout, the Beavers found their offensive groove hitting .367 on 30 attempts to take a 1-0 lead on the Vikings, 25-22. Sophomore Amanda Tronick (OH, So., Hutchinson, Minn.) and junior Chelsea Frison (MB, Jr., Whitewater, Wis.) paced BSU’s offense with 10 kills combined on 13 attempts (.769).

Like the first set, the Vikings got off to a 4-0 lead, but they held it for the duration of the set this time tying the match at one, 25-23. The Beavers battled Augustana throughout the stanza, however, as they did not fall behind by more than four points. Frison continued to hit efficiently with four kills in six attempts. Jessica Yost (OH, So., Bemidji, Minn.) notched four kills for BSU.

The third frame was a defensive battle as neither team hit above .150. However, Bemidji State was a little bit better and took the 2-1 lead, 25-19. BSU fell behind like it did in the first two sets, but its defense was the key in set win. Kayla DeJong (Jr., DS, Jefferson, Wis.) paced the Beavers’ defense with eight digs in the set. Collectively, BSU had 22 digs in the third.

The fourth set was the most highly contested in the match, as there were five ties and two lead changes. Unfortunately for BSU, Augustana took the last lead in the frame tying the match 2-2 with a 28-26 set victory. Yost, Tronick and Kelsi Crawford (OH, Sr., Wadena, Minn.) accounted for 15 of BSU’s 16 kills led BSU in the fourth.  

Bemidji State looked like it was well on its way to a win in the fifth, taking a 9-5 lead. BSU, however, committed five critical errors down the stretch to give the Vikings an opening and they took advantage, prevailing in the fifth, 15-13.

Notables:

- Bemidji State took a pair of sets from No. 22 Augustana. It was the first time BSU has taken a set from a team ranked in the AVCA Top 25 since Sept. 7, 2012 when it took a set from No. 19 Ferris State University.  

- BSU scored 112 points in the five frames and Augustana also scored 112. In the three sets the Beavers dropped, they lost by a combined six points.

- Five BSU players had double-digit kill totals, while four hit double digits in digs.

Next up: Bemidji State looks to keep the positive momentum gained this weekend going when it hosts rival St. Cloud State University Tuesday at 7 p.m.