Box Score Bismarck, ND—Despite hitting their best percentage of the season, the University of Mary volleyball team fell to Augustana College in their season finale Saturday night. The Marauders hit an impressive .292, but the Vikings .358 hitting percentage was too much to handle as U-Mary lost in three sets (17-25, 15-25, 22-25).
 
Alexis Jacobs led U-Mary with 10 kills, but Allison Adams was the Marauders top offensive threat as she finished with nine kills while hitting a career best .529.
 
First Team All-NSIC performer Holly Hafemeyer led Augustana (22-7, 14-16 NSIC) with a game-high 16 kills while hitting .536.
 
Playing against the No. 4 team in the NSIC, U-Mary refused to go down without a fight in a match that saw 18 ties and seven lead changes.
 
The Marauders started strong in the first set finding themselves tied 8-8 with the Vikings. Augustana slowly grew their lead to 19-13 forcing a U-Mary timeout. The Marauders responded scoring two of the next three points, but the Vikings held on for 25-17 win.
 
U-Mary had its best hitting performance of the match in the first set, but Augustana held a .393 to .321 edge.
 
The Marauders hit the ball impressively again in the second set at .312, but the Vikings committed just two attack errors en route to a .415 hitting performance. Again U-Mary found itself tied early in the set at 8-8, but this time Augustana responded with a 7-0 run to take a 15-8 lead. Adams and Morgan Dake answered with back-to-back kills, but the Vikings cruised for a 25-15 win.
 
Down 2-0 in their final set of the season, U-Mary went down swinging in the third set leading nearly the entire way. The Marauders built their lead to as many as four after a Jacobs kill and a Vikings attack error at 18-14, which forced an Augustana timeout. The Vikings took full advantage of the timeout with a 7-1 run to take their first lead of the set at 21-19. Jacobs answered with a kill, but Augustana scored three of the next four points on its way to a 25-22 win to complete the sweep.
 
U-Mary had 15 kills to Augustana's 16 kills in the final set, but the Vikings were able to run their offense more effectively attempting four more attacks than the Marauders and holding a .275 to .250 edge in hitting percentage.
 
Defensively, U-Mary held a 7 to 3 edge in blocks and a 42-40 advantage in digs on the night.
 
The Marauders had a strong showing from their three seniors playing the final match of their career. With four kills Allison Adams reached the 600-kill plateau, something only three other players have done in the U-Mary NCAA era (since 2006). Emily Turkowski finished with a season-high 34 assists to end her career with 2,336, more than double the next player on the career list since U-Mary left NAIA. Finally, Alicia Ewen finished with a game-high 11 digs.
 
The Marauders conclude their season with a 4-23 record over and a 1-19 NSIC mark, including five loses to teams ranked in the AVCA top-10. U-Mary loses three key contributors over the last four years to graduation, but the Marauders will return four players who started more than 20 matches this season.
 
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