Southwest MN State Sweeps UMC Volleyball

University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball fell victim to the 12th ranked team in the country as Southwest Minnesota State swept UMC in an NSIC match played at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston.
In the first set, both sides battled in the opening points before Lauren Wallace picked up a kill followed by a pair of attacking errors hit by the Mustang’s Taylor Reis  (Sr., Taunton) giving the Golden Eagles a 3-2 lead. Kills from Porsha Porath (Fr., Windom) and Lauren Wallace (R-Fr., Bloomington) tied the set at 5-5 before an SMSU attack error made it 6-5 UMC. Tied at 8-8, Southwest Minnesota State took a 12-8 lead with a four-point run including a pair of kills from Taylor Reiss. Reiss added two more kills later in the set to claim a 17-12 lead. Leading 24-14, SMSU finished the set with an Angela Young kill giving the visitor’s a 25-14 first set win.
In the second set, SMSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead with an ace and UMC attacking error. Minnesota Crookston continued to battle in the set tying the match at 8-8 with a kill from Deaira Gresham (Soph., Maplewood). The Mustangs responded with four straight points including an ace served by Lexi Ferrell (Fr., Luverne) and a kill by Meg Schmidt (Fr., Jordan) giving Southwest Minnesota state a 12-8 lead. The visitors protected their lead the rest of the set, putting it away for a 25-14 win.
With the third set tied at 5-5, SMSU jumped out for two straight points and a 7-5 lead. Later, another three-point run grew the Mustangs’ advantage to 12-7. Minnesota Crookston capitalized on back to back bad sets to pull within 18-12, but the Golden Eagles never really threatened to extend the match falling in the third set 25-18 as Southwest Minnesota State secured the 3-0 sweep.
Minnesota Crookston falls to 3-13 overall and 1-7 in the NSIC. The Golden Eagles return to Lysaker Gymnasium on Saturday when they host Sioux Falls at 4 p.m. Southwest Minnesota State improves to 11-5 overall and 6-2 in conference play.

For UMC
Kills – Deaira Gresham – 10, Porsha Porath – 5,  Lauren Wallace – 5
Blocks – Deaira Gresham- 3,  Callie Schapekahm – 2
Assists – Sydney Kruisselbrink – 21
Digs – Ali Schueler – 14, Katie Lienemann – 11, Lauren Ulibarri- 10
Aces – Sydney Kruisselbrink – 1