Northern State looked the part of a second-ranked team in the country when the Wolves swept the University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball team 25-9, 25-11, 25-12 in an NSIC match played at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, SD.
Northern State dominated the opening set holding Minnesota Crookston to just 9 points in the set in route to a 25-9 first set win.
Minnesota Crookston managed a more competitive second set despite facing a 4-0 deficit to start the set. Minnesota Crookston took two straight points following a Wolves attacking error and a Porsha Porath (Fr., Windom) kill. Later, the Wolves separated with a four-point run to gain an 11-5 lead, with another four-point run later in the set giving Northern a 15-6 advantage. Northern State added another five-point run to push their advantage to 21-8. Facing set point, the Golden Eagles scraped two points back on an attacking error and ace served by Porsha Porath before the Wolves closed out the second set 25-11.
In the third and final set, the Golden Eagles battled to tie the set at 4-4 following a kill from Sydney Kruisslebrink (Soph., Rochester). The Wolves countered with a three-point run to take a 7-4 lead. Minnesota Crookston failed to pull within two the rest of the match with Northern State taking the final seven points of the match to close out the sweep with a third set score of 25-12.
The loss drops UMC’s record to 2-11 overall and 0-5 in conference play. The Golden Eagles return to the court next Friday when they host Minot State at 6 p.m. Northern State improves to 13-0 overall and 5-0 in conference play.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| UMC | 9 | 11 | 12 |
| Northern State | 25 | 25 | 25 |
For UMC
Kills – Porsha Porath -10, Kaitlin Sikkink – 3
Blocks – Porsha Porath – 1
Assists – Sydney Kruisselbrink – 18
Digs – Ali Schueler – 12, Sydney Kruisselbrink – 8
Aces – Porsha Porath – 1
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