The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Volleyball team won the first set, but the Minnesota State Moorhead Dragons won the next three for a 3-1 victory in a Northern Sun Conference match played at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston.
Set One –
The first set was a great back-and-forth battle with ties at 3, 4, 8, and 9 before MSUM went on a 7-1 run for a 16-10 lead. UMC’s Deaira Gresham (Soph. Maplewood) stopped the run with a big kill to spark a 4-1 run to cut the MSUM lead to three points (17-14). The Dragons scored three straight points and UMC trailed 20-14 when they had back-to-back kills from Sydney Kruisselbrink (Soph. Rochester) and Porsha Porath (Fresh. Windom). MSUM led 23-19 when UMC went on a 5-1 run getting a point off a Dragon attack error and kills from Lauren Wallace (Fresh. Bloomington) and Gresham and two more MSUSM attack errors and the set was tied at 24. The teams were tied at 25 and 26 and UMC finished with a kill from Gresham and a monster kill from Kaitlin Sikkink (Jr. St. Charles) to win the set 28-26 for a 1-0 lead.
Set Two –
The second set was another battle with ties at 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 before MSUM scored two points to start a 9-4 run for a 17-12 lead. UMC’s Porath had a big kill to stop the run and the Golden Eagles added another point on a Dragon attack error and a Callie Schapekahm (Sr. Eagan) service ace to get within a two-point (17-15) deficit. UMC continued to battle and tied the set at 20 on a Porath service ace and the teams were tied at 22 and 23 and MSUM had a kill and won the set on a UMC attack error for a 25-23 victory to tie the match at 1-1.
Set Three –
The third set was more of the same as the teams were tied at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 until MSUM had a kill and added two more points on UMC attack errors for a 16-13 lead, forcing a UMC timeout. MSUM added another point on a UMC attack error to take a 17-13 lead. The lead would be enough the rest of the way as the Dragons held on to win 25-22 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set Four –
The fourth set was the only set that wasn’t close as MSUM jumped out to a 9-1 lead and they cruised the rest of the way for a 25-12 victory.
UMC’s season comes to an end with a 4-24 overall record and a 2-18 in the NSIC. MSUM season ends with an 11-16 record overall and 7-13 in the NSIC.
Ali Schueler with one of 7 digs Porsha Porath with one of her 11 digs
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| MSU-Moorhead | 26 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| UMC | 28 | 23 | 22 | 12 |
Deaira Gresham with a dig on the serve receive
For UMC
Kills – Deaira Gresham – 18, Porsha Porath – 11
Blocks – Callie Schapekahm – 2, Kaitlin Sikkink – 2
Assists – Sydney Kruisselbrink – 40
Digs – Katie Lienemann – 24, Deaira Gresham – 18, Sydney Kruisselbrink – 15
Aces – Porsha Porath – 2
