DE MOINES, Iowa – No. 24 Argo volleyball finished day one in De Moines with a split following a five-set thriller against No. 4 Viterbo University (18-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20, 11-15) and a four-set victory over the Cardinal Stritch Wolves (20-25, 25-9, 25-11, 25-15).
 
No. 24 University of Providence 2 – No. 4 Viterbo University 3 (18-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20, 11-15)
 
The Argos fell in five-set battle against the Viterbo Hawks as both teams traded sets, but the Hawks took the deciding set to take the win.
 
The Hawks opened up the match with a 6-0 run to take an early lead. The Argos went on a run to bring the deficit down to one, 9-10, before Viterbo tacked on two more to make it 9-12. A kill from Melissa Gonzalez sparked an Argo run to give the Argos their first lead of the set, 13-12. The Hawks were able to find offensive success again to take 10 to the Argos two to retake the lead, 22-15. The Argos tallied three more, but the Hawks closed out the set, 25-18.
 
The Argos opened up the second set in their favor as they earned a 5-4 lead early. The Hawks responded to take the lead, 11-13, however Providence answered with a dominant 9-1 run to take a 19-14 advantage. Viterbo attempted to close the gap to bring it within one, 23-22, but kills from Kelsey Shaver and Sydney Andersen closed out the set to tie the match up, 1-1.
 
The third set began to the Hawks advantage as they took a 10-4 lead. Following five errors and four Argo kills, Providence tied up the match at 12-12. The Hawks tallied three more kills and an Argo error to retake the lead, but the Argos earned four kills of their own and a Viterbo error pushed the Argos back on top, 17-16. The Hawks took control of the remainder of the set to 9-2 run to take the 2-1 advantage.
 
Providence was not going down without a fight, opening the fourth set on a 6-1 run. The Argos retained their lead and eventually tallied an extra point to push the lead to six, 15-9. The Argos would eventually hold an eight-point lead, 22-14, before the Hawks attempted a 6-1 rally to close the deficit, but a kill from Lauren Brown and one final Hawks' attack error gave the Argos the win to push the match to a final set.
 
The Argos held the advantage early in the fifth leading 5-3, but the Hawks tallied four in a row to take the lead, 5-7. Two attack errors from the Hawks tied things up at 7. The Hawks took back the momentum to tally four to one to take an 11-8 lead. The Argos attempted to rally after tallying three more points from two Shaver kills and an attack error, but the Hawks outscored the Argos, 4-3, to close out the fifth set and take the win, 2-3.
 
Shaver led the Argos' attack with a match-high 18 kills, followed by teammates Brown and Andersen with 11 apiece. The Argos lead the match in blocks with seven from both Isabelle Parker and Ember Schwindt, while teammate Brown tallied five. Aver Dyer led the match defensively with a match-high 28 digs, while Shaver tallied 12.
 
No. 24 University of Providence 3 – Cardinal Stritch University 1

The Argos bounced back for their tournament opening defeat to take their second match of the day against the Cardinal Stritch Wolves, 3-1.
 
The Wolves opened up the match on a 9-4 run to take an early advantage. The Wolves maintained their lead until the Argos' Andersen tallied a kill to make it 10-13 and spark a 6-1 Providence run to give the Argos the lead, 15-14. The Wolves retook the lead and would not relinquish it for the rest of the set to take the opening set, 20-25.
 
The second set was a battle as both squads tallied five points to remain tied at 5-5. Seven consecutive Wolves' errors pushed the Argos out to a 12-5 lead. The Argos would commit an error of their own, but a dominant 9-1 run gave the Argos a commanding 21-7 lead. The Wolves tallied two more, but it just wasn't enough as the Argos closed out the second set on a Schwindt kill to tie up the match at 1.
 
The momentum remained in the Argos favor to open the third set as the Argos commanded the net to take a 17-6 lead. The Wolves couldn't match the dominant play of the Argos in the set as Providence took a 2-1 advantage following their 25-11 third set.
 
The Argos determination kicked into high gear in the fourth set as the Argos fought their way to a dominant 15-4 lead. The deficit proved to be too much as the Wolves outscored the Argos, 11-10, to close out the set but the 10 points were just enough to seal the win for the Argos, 25-15.
 
Andersen led the Argos with 11 kills against the Wolves. Dyer tied for a match-high 14 digs, while Paige Jensen tallied 19 assists with Cydney Finberg following with 17. Cameron Davies, Andersen, and Schwindt commanded the net for the Argos garnering three blocks each. The Argos led the match with 12 service aces, while the Wolves tallied none.
 
Up Next
The Argos will look to finish the Grand View Tournament on a high-note tomorrow as they take on Olivet Nazarene at 10 a.m. and MidAmerica Nazarene at 1 p.m.