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MARSHALL, Minn. - No. 21 Augustana rallied from a 0-2 deficit to earn a 20-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-9 victory over No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State on Tuesday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball in the PE Gym.

Abbey Thissen led the Mustangs with 20 kills while hitting .389. Kenzie Beekman contributed by flooring 17 kills along with teammate Sarah Parker recording 14 kills while hitting .357. Eisha Oden also tallied 11 kills while hitting .476 and put up a solo block along with three assist blocks on the night.
 
Emilee Gutzmer led the offense with 29 assists while Megan Larson dished out 27.
 
SMSU (7-5, 2-2 NSIC) hit .263 while recording seven team blocks. Augustana (10-2, 3-1 NSIC) hit .236 and totaled 11 team blocks.
 
SMSU started set one with a 4-1 lead and kept the lead the rest of the set despite Augustana pulling in within three in the last five points. Southwest Minnesota State closed the game off hitting a match-high .467 taking set one, 25-20.
 
In set two, SMSU charged back from being down to start the set, 0-2. The Mustangs controlled the rest of the game and finished the set 25-16 and to lead the match, 2-0 going into the third set.
 
Set three was a battle, as there were a match-high 12 tie scores and six lead changes. Augustana held the majority of control in the set while the Vikings hit a match-high .370 to take the set, 25-22.
 
The fourth set, Augustana gained control and kept it despite nine tie scores and five lead changes. The Mustangs tied the set at 20-20 but back-to-back kills by the Vikings put SMSU on their heels. SMSU tied the game up again at 23-23 but Augustana closed out scoring two straight, to force a fifth set.
 
In set five, Augustana took a commanding 5-1 lead and held control to finished the final set, 15-9.
 
Southwest Minnesota State will continue their home stand as they host a pair of NSIC games this weekend. On Friday, SMSU will take on Minnesota Crookston at 7 p.m. and University of Mary on Saturday starting at 3 p.m.