CROOKSTON, Minn. –  The University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball team put together one of their strongest matches of the season, going point-for-point with one of the best teams in the nation, No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State University. However, the Mustangs were able to come back from an early 5-0 deficit in the fifth set to pick up the 3-2 win (23-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-12, 15-13). The Golden Eagles fall to 11-15 (5-13 NSIC) with Saturday's loss. SMSU improves to 19-7 (14-4 NSIC) with the win.

The match was a strong way to go out for UMC's three seniors, who have been a part of 49 wins and have helped the Golden Eagles turn the program around after a winless season the year before they arrived in 2011. Morgan VanGerpen (Sr., MH, Overland Park, Kan./Early Childhood Education), Mary Mikutowski (Sr., Lib., Stillwater, Minn./Health Science) and Brittany Looker (Sr., OH, Rochester, Minn./Health Science) have all put their mark on the program. Mikutowski waited her turn but has had a strong season as the team's primary libero. VanGerpen will go down as one of UMC's top blockers all-time, while Looker will end her career as the all-time kills leader and all-time points leader, while she also became just the third person in program history to amass 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. In addition, Looker was only the second player in program history to earn All-NSIC First Team, last season.

The Golden Eagles were led Saturday by the play on VanGerpen, who had 12 kills and just errors with a .357 hitting percentage, while also adding two solo blocks. Looker finished the match with 12 kills and hit .105 and had 10 digs and five block assists. Mikutowski rounded things out with 25 digs.

In addition to the seniors, Kelci Green (R-Fr., Anoka, Minn./Biology) continued to show her upside with 12 blocks on the game with one solo block and 11 block assists, while she added four kills. Alyssa Muelken (Fr., MH, Savage, Minn./Health Science) stepped into the line-up this weekend due to injury and put together a strong match with seven kills and hit .263 with two block assists.

At setter, Kaycie Hagen (Fr., S, Savage, Minn./Health Science) led the way with 27 assists.

Southwest Minnesota State was led by 16 kills from standout freshman Eisha Oden, who hit .286 for the match. Kenzie Beekman added 16 kills, while Abbey Thissen had 12. At setter, Megan Larson led the way with 47.

Defensively, Whitney Burmeister led the way with 26 digs, while Larson added 12 and Jessica Thelemann had 11. On the block, Sarah Parker led the way with six block assists and one solo block.

The Golden Eagles came out strong from the on-set, taking the first set 25-23 led by a string of Casey Cashman (So., DS, Ashland, Wis./Natural Resources) service aces and kills from VanGerpen, Looker and Muelken to take the set.

Southwest Minnesota State would respond with a win 25-22 over the Golden Eagles. SMSU would get out to a 22-17 advantage but UMC would make things interesting, making it 24-22 following two Parker attack errors. A Mikutowski service error would give SMSU the win.

UMC would repond this time, picking up a major 25-20 win, led down the stretch by two kills from Looker, a kill from Kelci Green and a kill from VanGerpen as they went ahead 2-1 over the Mustangs.

However the Mustangs would repond furiously with a dominant 25-12 win, leaving no doubt that a fifth set would be played.

The Golden Eagles got out to a quick 6-0 lead, forcing four SMSU attack errors and getting a Looker service ace. However, SMSU would repond by taking six of the next seven points to take the lead 7-6. Kills from Beekman and Oden after it was tied up 13-13 would deliver the set and the match to the Mustangs.

The Golden Eagles will wrap up the season Nov. 7 and 8 on the road against Wayne State College (Neb.) and Augustana College (S.D.)

Follow the Golden Eagles on Facebook at Golden Eagle Sports and on Twitter at @UMCAthletics.
 
The University of Minnesota, Crookston is an NCAA Division II Institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Golden Eagle Equestrian team is a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA).