CROOKSTON, Minn. – Maggie Perrel's 21 kills powered the University of Minnesota Crookston to a 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-17) sweep of Minot State University. The victory gives the Golden Eagles a major sweep on Homecoming weekend after upending University of Mary 3-1 on Friday.

With the big victories this weekend, UMC now sits alone in ninth place and just two games back of the top eight, who advance to the NSIC Tournament. The Golden Eagles are 8-11 (4-7 NSIC) after the win. Minnesota Crookston will still have a long haul with nine matches remaining, including four against nationally ranked foes. Minot State falls to 5-15 (0-11 NSIC) with the loss.

Minnesota Crookston had a great systemic weekend as they played clean volleyball, hitting .234 with 14.4 kills per set in their two matches on the weekend. A lot of that is due to the play of setter Sierra Trost (Sr., S, Ham Lake, Minn.), who would average 11.2 assists per set. Trost had a big day on Saturday with 43 assists, for an average of 14.3 assists per set. The Golden Eagles would hit .265 against Minot State with 49 kills and 18 errors.

In addition to Perrel and Trost, Kassi Green (R-Jr., OH, Anoka, Minn.) rounded out a nice weekend with 11 kills and a .185 hitting percentage. Green averaged 3.57 kills per set on the weekend and hit .259. Her twin sister Kelci Green (R-Jr., MH, Anoka, Minn.) would add six kills and hit .357.

Defensively, UMC looked to Ali Schueler (R-Fr., Lib., Howards Grove, Wis.) with 11 digs, while Becca Vandenheuvel (Jr., DS, Cannon Falls, Minn.) added 10 digs.

Minot State would look to 10 kills from Janelle Nagy, who hit .129 on the match. Hayley Swain added seven kills and hit .462. Coach Ben Kaszeta has a young squad with 10 players who are either sophomores or younger on his squad.
The Beavers would hit .146 on the match with 32 kills and 17 errors. Kelsey Dewulf would guide the offense with 27 assists on the game. She added seven service aces on the day.

Defensively, Minot State looked to 12 digs from Cindy Pelo, while Shae Pedersen added 10. On the block, Swain paced the Beavers with four block assists.

The Golden Eagles will look to continue to build their momentum as they play a Bemidji State University squad that is also coming off a weekend sweep of the same two teams. BSU and UMC will play Tues., Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. at Lysaker Gymnasium, marking the third meeting this season between the two schools just 88 miles apart. They played at BSU Gymnasium in NSIC play and also met in tournament play in Sioux Falls, S.D. They have split the series 1-1 thus far this season.