UMC Volleyball Loses to Minot State in 5

University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball battled to win a 58-point third set to avoid a sweep before ultimately falling 15-13 in a fifth set against the Minot State Beavers in an NSIC match played at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston.
In the first set, Minot State jumped out to a 2-0 lead after back-to-back kills hit by Katie Dufner (Sr., Glenburn, ND). The Beavers continued to grow their first set lead to 5-2 and then 7-3 before the Golden Eagles battled back for three-straight points in route to a 7-6 deficit including a kill by Sydney Kruisselbrink (Soph., Rochester). A bad set by UMC closed out a four-point run giving Minot State a 15-8 lead. A late three-point rally brought Minnesota Crookston to within 19-16, but it wasn’t enough as the Beavers managed to close out the first set 25-19.
Minot State took an early 2-0 lead to open the second set. Later in the set, Minot State rattled off five-straight points expanding their lead to 11-5. The Beavers took any potential drama out of the second set ensuring there would be no rally for the Golden Eagles, closing out the set with six-straight points to secure a 2-0 set lead winning the second set 25-14.
UMC started well in their must-win third set capitalizing on six-straight Minot State miscues giving the Beavers a 7-2 lead. A kill from Kruisselbrink followed by a service ace sent from Ali Schueler (R-Jr., Howards Grove, WI) sparked another four-point Minnesota Crookston run to grow the lead to 11-2 for the Golden Eagles. Minot State responded with three-straight points following a Beavers timeout to close the gap to 11-5. Later the Beavers rallied for five-straight points to pull within 13-10. Another four-point run leveled the set at 15-15 before the Golden Eagles took two straight points with a kill by Kaitlin Sikkink (R-Jr., St. Charles) and a bad set from Minot State giving UMC a 17-15 lead. The Beavers responded by taking three-straight points to take an 18-17 lead. The two sides then traded point before the visitor’s used another three-point rally for a 22-19 lead. Minnesota Crookston countered with a kill by Deaira Gresham (Soph., Maplewood) sparking a UMC three-point run tying the set at 22-22. Both sides traded points with Minot State holding two separate set points that UMC thwarted before the Beavers had a service error and attack error giving the Golden Eagles a 30-28 set win extending the match to a fourth set.
Minnesota Crookston took advantage or their thrilling third set win by jumping out to an 8-5 lead. Minot State bounced back for three-straight points tying the match at 8-8. Back-to-back Beavers’ attacking errors gave UMC a 10-8 lead. The two sides battled throughout the set before the Golden Eagles separated with a four-point run to pull ahead 18-13. Minnesota Crookston would go on to close out the set 25-21 and force a fifth-set tiebreaker.
UMC got out to a dream start in the final set taking a 3-0 lead with kills by Hannah Stark and Kaitlin Sikkink. The lead grew to 6-2 following a Minot State attacking error. Minot State took three points back off of Minnesota Crookston miscues to close the gap to 6-5. Later in the set, the visitors utilized another three-point run to take an 11-10 lead. Minnesota Crookston answered out of a timeout with a Kaitlin Sikkink kill to tie the set at 11-11, but Minot State responded by taking the next three points and a 14-11 lead. The Golden Eagles didn’t fold rallying for two-straight points to pull within 14-13 before the Beavers picked up one last kill from Emily Falldorf (Jr., Bemidji) to secure a 15-13 fifth set win securing a 3-2 match victory.
Minnesota Crookston falls to 2-12 overall and 0-6 in the NSIC. The Golden Eagles return to Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston on Saturday when they host the University of Mary beginning at 2 p.m. Minot State improves to 8-7 overall and 2-4 in conference play.

Lauren Wallace goes up for the attack (Picture by UMC Athletics)

For UMC
Kills – Kaitlin Sikkink- 15, Deaira Gresham – 11 , Porsha Porath – 8  Sydney Kruisselbrink – 8
Blocks –Callie Schapekahm – 4,  Sydney Kruisselbrink – 3
Assists – Sydney Kruisselbrink – 42
Digs –Ali Schueler – 21,  Porsha Porath – 17,  Katie Lienemann – 13
Aces – Ali Schueler – 3, Porsha Porath – 2