CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball program played some of their best volleyball in program history in sets two and four, but they would drop a hard-fought match 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-13, 25-23) to No. 8 Wayne State College (Neb.). The Golden Eagles were able to take the second set after hitting .379 for the frame with 13 kills and just two errors. UMC would control the fourth set statistically, but they would give up a 21-19 lead as the Wildcats would come up with key plays down the stretch to take the decisive frame 25-23.

Minnesota Crookston falls to 9-14 (5-10 NSIC) with Friday's loss, while Wayne State improved to 18-6 (9-6 NSIC) with the victory. The Golden Eagles are sitting in 10^th after Friday's result, but will look to stay in the fight for an NSIC Tournament spot. Wayne State is sitting in seventh place with the win.

Minnesota Crookston was again without leading offensive player Maggie Perrel (R-Jr., OH, New Germany, Minn.) and her 3.42 kills per set due to an upper body injury. However, the Golden Eagles picked up the slack led by the play of Kassi Green (R-Jr., OH, Anoka, Minn.), who would put down 18 kills and hit .204 for the match. Rachel Freund (R-So., OH, Jordan, Minn.) would also put up a strong night with nine kills and a .400 hitting percentage.

In the middle, Kelci Green (R-Jr., MH, Anoka, Minn.) would only get set 17 times but would finish with six kills and hit .294, while Kali Erickson (Sr., OH, Fargo, N.D.) added eight kills.

At setter, Sierra Trost (Sr., S, Ham Lake, Minn.) finished with 42 digs while guiding UMC to a .193 hitting percentage with 44 kills and 18 hitting errors. Trost is just 56 assists from surpassing Cassie Yates for No. 2 all-time in career assists.

Defensively, Ali Schueler (R-Fr., Lib., Howards Grove, Wis.) would finish with 17 digs, while Trost added nine and Freund chipped in seven. On the block, Kelci Green would have a nice night with four block assists and two solo blocks.

Wayne State would look to other options as their leading attacker Michaela Mestl would be limited to five kills with five errors on the match. Alyssa Frauendorfer would pick up the slack and finish with 16 kills, with just one error, as she hit .556 for the match. Erin Gross would add 14 kills and hit .250.

At setter, Megan Gebhardt would finish with a double-double of 45 assists and 11 digs. She paced the Wildcats to a .234 hitting percentage with 55 kills and 21 hitting errors.

Defensively, Mestl picked up what she was lacking offensively as she led the way with 21 digs. Gebhardt would chip in 11, as did libero Haley Kauth. The Wayne State block would struggle as they would finish with no blocks on the night but five block errors.

The Golden Eagles would come out of the gate and struggle as Wayne State would take the first set 25-15 led by four kills from Tarin Beller.

Minnesota Crookston would turn the tables and would get out to a 4-1 lead after a Kaycie Hagen (Jr., DS, Savage, Minn.) service ace. Wayne State would be able to close and would tie it up 19-19 late on a Gross kill. However, UMC would take four of the final five points led by three kills from Kassi Green.

UMC would revert back to their first set struggles in set three as errors would get the best of them. The Golden Eagles would hit .062 with seven kills and five errors as the Wildcats took the frame 25-13.

Minnesota Crookston would bounce right back and would start out the fourth set firing on all cylinders. The Golden Eagles would lead 4-0 after a Gross attack error. Wayne State would be able to take the lead 14-13 on a Kassi Green attack error. But UMC would come right back and take the lead 18-17 on a kill from Freund.

After trading scores, UMC would lead 21-19 after a Kassi Green kill, however Wayne State would control play from there led by two bad set calls for Minnesota Crookston which would help the Wildcats go up 23-21. The Golden Eagles wouldn't go away without a fight as Kassi Green had a big kill to get within 24-23. However, the Wildcats would seize the day as Frauendorfer would come away with the decisive point to give Wayne State the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.

Minnesota Crookston's slate doesn't get any easier as they host No. 7 Augustana University Sat., Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. at Lysaker Gymnasium.