ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst volleyball team, ranked 15th in the latest AVCA Division III poll, dropped its first CCIW contest of the season after suffering a five-set loss to Augustana College.
 
Augustana (14-4, 2-1 CCIW) downed Elmhurst by scores of 21-25, 26-24, 25-19, 16-25, 15-11.
 
Elmhurst raced out to a monstrous lead in the first set building an 11-point cushion at 19-8. Elmhurst opened up a 24-11 lead following an ace from Hannah Nimrick, but Augustana responded by winning the next 10 consecutive points to close to within three at 24-21. A kill from Melissa Nava ended the set for the Bluejays.
 
The two teams traded points for the majority of the second set with neither team leading by more than one for the first 34 combined points. With the score even at 17-17, the Bluejays slowly built a three-point cushion at 23-20 with a 6-3 run. Augustana ripped off the next three points to pull even at 23-all, but an error on the Vikings gave Elmhurst a set point at 24-23. Back-to-back kills from Amy Kalkhoff gave the Vikings a set point at 25-24 and an ace from Taryn VanEarwage gave them the set at 26-24.
 
The Vikings rattled off an early lead in the third, opening up a seven-point cushion at 13-6. Elmhurst closed to within three points on multiple occasions, but three service errors ended the Bluejays' run, allowing the Vikings pull away for the 25-19 win.
 
The fourth belonged to the Bluejays as Elmhurst raced out to a quick 6-0 lead, and built an 11-point cushion at 15-4. Augustana came no closer than seven points for the duration of the set as Elmhurst pulled away for the 25-16 win.
 
The fifth set was a back-and-forth affair as the Bluejays and Vikings traded points. Elmhurst led 8-7 at the side change, but Augustana won the next three points to take an 11-8 lead. The Bluejays closed to within a point at 11-10, but the Vikings pushed their lead back to three points at 14-11 and a block from VanEarwage sealed the set and the match for the Vikings.
 
Elmhurst finished the match hitting .176 with 63 kills and 31 errors in 182 swings. The Bluejays were solid at the net, totaling 17 blocks in the loss. Mary Lawrence led Elmhurst in the loss with 17 kills and eight blocks. Alli Rogers registered a double-double of 15 kills and 16 blocks while Melissa Nava finished with 14 kils and five blocks. Nimrick totaled a match-high 48 assists to go with 11 digs, six kills and five blocks. Hannah Davis added four blocks and four kills while Amy Schryver totaled a team-best 22 digs.
 
Augustana hit .138 for the contest with 53 kills and 28 errors in 181 swings. The Vikings finished with 15 blocks in the victory. Kalkhoff and Jacqueline Kibir-Evans paced the Vikings with 11 kills apiece. VanEarwage and Emily Westermeyer totaled nine kills apiece for the Vikings. Claire Martin and VanEarwage added 19 digs apiece in the victory.
 
Elmhurst travels to the University of Chicago on Friday, October 7, to face the Marroons and Juniata College.