Katie Stephens and Alyssa Ballenger both came through with double-doubles to help 18th ranked Wayne State outlast No. 12 Augustana in five sets Tuesday evening, 25-19, 25-22, 12-25, 19-25, 15-11 in the 12th annual Pack the House/Black Out Night at Rice Auditorium.
The official attendance of 1,056 on Pack The House/Black Out Night was the 11th biggest crowd in Wildcat volleyball history. Nine of the top 11 single game attendance marks for WSC home volleyball have taken place on Black Out Night, sponsored by the WSC SPORTS Club.
The first set was highlighted by the efforts of senior Erin Gross, who paved the way with five kills. The Wildcats recorded a team-best 15 kills and a .239 attack percentage to take the early lead.
The second set was a closer battle with nine ties and three lead changes, but Wayne State scored the final three points of the set to break a 22-22 tie and take the 2-0 match advantage. The Wildcats used a Tarrin Beller kill to take a 23-22 lead, then forced back-to-back Augustana attack errors to complete the set. Ballenger produced a team-high five kills in the set to lead the Wildcats.
Augustana held WSC to just six kills in the third set to get back in the match, then evened things up by hitting a sizzling .390 in the fourth set, recording 19 kills and just three attack errors, to send it to a winner-take-all fifth set.
The final set saw seven ties and five lead changes. Wayne State trailed early 6-4, but used kills from Ballenger, Megan Gebhardt and Stephens to take a 7-6 lead. Augustana came back and took their final lead of the set at 9-8, but the Wildcats ran off three straight points to take the lead for good at 11-9, thanks to kills by Beller and Ballenger along with an Augustana attack error.
Following an Augustana point that made the score 11-10, Wayne State used a kill from Beller followed by two Augustana errors to take a 14-10 lead. The Wildcats forced another Viking attack error on match point to win the match. Ballenger had four kills in the fifth and deciding set with Beller adding three.
Stephens led a balanced Wildcat effort with 15 kills and 18 digs for her second double-double of the season. Ballenger accounted for 14 kills and 17 digs for her first double-double of the year. Gross finished with 12 kills and Beller added 11.
Beller paced Wayne State at the net with six blocks followed by four from Gross. Haley Kauth and Bree Ackermann each had two service aces. Kauth accounted for a team-high 24 digs while Maddie Duffy added 11. Megan Gebhardt was credited with 51 set assists.
Wayne State (7-4, 2-1 NSIC) will be on the road this weekend, visiting sixth-ranked Minnesota Duluth Friday at 6 p.m. followed by a 1 p.m. contest Saturday at St. Cloud State.
