BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – The University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-22) to a strong Grand Valley State University team to open the 2016 Ferris State University Invitational. The Golden Eagles struggled to stay in system early on but played strong in the third set and even had a 19-17 lead late. The Golden Eagles fall to 0-1 on the season, while Grand Valley State improves to 1-0. The Lakers were a NCAA Tournament team in 2015.
UMC hit .000 for the match. They were led by six kills from
Maggie Perrel (R-Jr., OH, New Germany, Minn.).
Kelci Green (R-Jr., MH, Anoka, Minn.) had a strong match with five kills and a .400 hitting percentage, while her twin sister
Kassi Green (R-Jr., OH, Anoka, Minn.) also had five kills.
Sierra Trost (Sr., S, Ham Lake, Minn.) tallied 16 assists and 11 digs on the day.
Kaycie Hagen (Jr., DS/S, Savage, Minn.) chipped in 10 digs.
Kelci Green led the block with two solo blocks and one block assist.
Grand Valley State hit .165 for the match. They were led by Staci Brower's nine kills and four block assists. Kendall Yerkes added six kills, while Brooke Smith had five. Katie Olson paced the attack with 17 helpers.
Defensively, Smith led the way with 16 digs, while Sydney Benchley added 14 digs.
The Golden Eagles would go down 8-3 early on in the first set. The Lakers would extend their lead to 18-8. UMC would be able to get within 18-10 after a Trost service ace. The Lakers would strike back and rally for three-straight points to extend their advantage to 21-10. Grand Valley State would be able to take the first set 25-12 to go up 1-0.
Minnesota Crookston would take a 1-0 advantage on a
Kali Erickson (Sr., OH, Fargo, N.D.) kill off of the block. The Golden Eagles would then fall behind 7-2 after a misread on who would hit the ball. The Golden Eagles would get within 9-6 after a stuff block from
Kaitlin Sikkink (R-Fr., MH, Saint Charles, Minn.) and
Kassi Green.
Minnesota Crookston would continue to charge and would get within 12-10 after a Sikkink kill. However, a host of UMC hitting errors would give Grand Valley State three-straight points to make it 15-10. The Lakers would be able to extend their lead to 21-11. The Golden Eagles would rally to get within 23-15 on a Grand Valley State rotation error. However, Grand Valley State would still be able to come away with the set 25-17 on a block from Shannon Winicki and Brower.
UMC was led by two kills apiece from Perrel and Erickson through the first two hits. The Golden Eagles struggled overall, hitting -.111 with six kills and 10 errors. Defensively, Hagen led the way with five digs.
The Lakers were led in the first two sets by Brower, who had three kills and two block assists. Defensively, Brooke Smith led the way with eight digs.
UMC would make things interesting in set three. The Golden Eagles would get out to the 5-4 advantage on a
Kelci Green kill in the third set. They would extend their advantage to 10-5 on a Trost kill. The Golden Eagles would extend their advantage to 13-7 on a kill that
Kassi Green placed down the line. The Lakers wouldn't go away though and would get within 13-12 on a UMC error. Grand Valley State would knot it up 14-14 on a Jayci Suseland kill. A
Kelci Green stuff block would put the Golden Eagles up 16-14.
The Lakers would keep charging back but UMC would continue to hold them off with a Trost kill down the line to make it 19-17. Grand Valley State would make yet another charge though and tie it up 19-19 on a
Kassi Green hitting error.
The Lakers would be able to take the advantage 22-21 on an Erickson hitting error. However a service error by Grand Valley State would again knot it up 22-22. The Lakers would get the lead back 24-22 after a Perrel hitting error. The Lakers would be able to take the set and the match on a block from Brower and Suseland.
The Golden Eagles return to action against Lake Superior State University at 2:30 p.m. C.T.
