The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles Volleyball struggled early in the first two sets of a 3-0 loss to Winona State in an NSIC match played in Winona.
In the opening set, Winona State won six of the first seven points to stake a 6-1 lead. Minnesota Crookston’s Porsha Porath (Soph., Windom) sparked a four-point run to bring the visitor’s within 6-5 after her first kill. The Warriors countered winning three of the next four points to take a 10-6 lead. After the Golden Eagles pulled within 11-10, Winona State grew its lead to 14-10 following a UMC attacking error and back-to-back kills. A Sydney Kruisselbrink (Jr., Rochester) kill brought the Golden Eagles within 18-13, but Winona State won six straight points to take a 24-13 lead before closing out the first set 25-14.
In the second set, Winona State won the first six points and 12 of the first 13 points to claim a 12-1 lead. Minnesota Crookston was unable to overcome the poor start as the Warriors took a two-set lead winning the second frame 25-12.
Minnesota Crookston took an early 3-1 lead in the third set following a kill by Lauren Wallace (R-Soph., Bloomington) before a Deaira Gresham (Jr., Maplewood) kill gave the Golden Eagles a 4-2 lead. Winona State won three-straight points tying the set at 5-5 before winning five of the next points extending their lead to 10-8. A 5-1 run pushed the host’s advantage to 15-10, but Minnesota Crookston rallied with a kill by Gresham and back-to-back Warriors errors tying the set at 18-18. Winona State won three of the next four points and closed out the match by taking three of the final four points to secure a 25-22 win in the final set to close out the sweep.
Minnesota Crookston falls to 2-10 overall and 0-4 in the NSIC. The Golden Eagles return to the court on Friday when UMC travels to Aberdeen to take on Northern State at 6:00 P.M. Winona State improves to 10-2 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
| Box Score | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| UMC | 14 | 12 | 22 |
| Winona State | 25 | 25 | 25 |
For UMC
Kills – Deaira Gresham – 12, Sydney Kruisselbrink – 5
Blocks – Lauren Wallace – 2, Melissa Rodriguez – 2
Assists – Sydney Kruisselbrink -14, Katie Lienemann – 5
Digs – Katie Lienemann – 16, Deaira Gresham – 10
Aces – Alyssa Thomas – 1
