ROCK ISLAND, Ill.  – It was a busy weekend for the Luther College volleyball team. After playing two matches Friday evening, the Norse faced host Augustana College in their final match at the Augustana Triangular over the weekend. Though the team hoped to leave Illinois with a win, it wasn't in the cards for Luther, as the Norse fell to 3-7 on the season an 0-1 in conference play after a 3-0 (16-25, 22-25, 20-25) loss to the Vikings. 

BY THE NUMBERS
Luther looked to snap its three-match skid Saturday afternoon and hoped to get off to a solid start in its match against Augustana. Struggles on serve receive, though, plagued the Norse early in the first set. Though Luther took an early 3-1 lead, the team quickly found itself in a 5-3 deficit after a strong serving run by the Vikings. Still, the Norse managed to stay within two of Augustana until a four point serving run resulted in a 12-5 lead for the Vikings. Though Luther tried, the team could never recover from the early deficit, dropping the opening set by a final score of 25-16. 

The Norse looked to course correct in the second but once again struggled with serve receive early in the set. However, unlike the opener, Luther was able to recover from the early 17-10 deficit, using a furious rally to cut the Augustana lead to 17-14 then 21-19. It was once again strong play from behind the service line that ignited the Norse rally, though this time it was Kaitlyn Dailey (Utica, Minn. / St. Charles) that had the hot hand. Sarina Stortz (Mable, Minn. / Mable-Canton) also played a key role in Luther's late success, as her kills and strong play at the net ignited the Norse offense and helped cut the lead to 21-19. 

Luther was unable to catch the Vikings, however, as Augustana eventually won the set 25-22 for a 2-0 lead in the match. It put the Norse in a must win situation, as they needed to win the third and fourth sets if they wanted to claim victory. Despite a grinding third set, Luther was unable to force extras, as the team fell 25-20 in the third and 3-0 in the match. 

TOP NORSE

• Middle blocker Sarina Stortz (Mable, Minn. / Mable-Canton) was named to the All-Tournament team after recording a season-high 12 kills in two matches over the weekend. On Saturday, Stortz led the way with 12 kills for the Norse and accounted for 12.5 points. 
• Kasandra Keller (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) tallied a team-leading 15 digs in the match, while Kyah Olson-Sola (Northfield, Minn. / Northfield), Gabbie Schei (Stewartville, Minn. / Stewartville) and Kaitlyn Dailey (Utica, Minn. / St. Charles) all ended with double-digit digs. 

UP NEXT
Luther will return to American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play on Wednesday, as the team travels to take on Simpson in its second conference of the year. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT in Indianola, Iowa. 

For all the latest on Luther Volleyball, stay tuned to luthernorse.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.