CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball team used key plays in pivotal moments of the match to upend Minnesota State University, Mankato 3-2 (22-25, 29-27, 25-23, 26-28, 15-9) on Sat., Sept. 24 at Lysaker Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles and Mavericks showed why the NSIC is considered on the best volleyball conferences in NCAA Division II as it was a display of two strong and evenly-matched volleyball programs on Saturday.

Minnesota Crookston improves to 6-7 (2-3 NSIC) and finishes off a strong week as they went 2-1 with victories over Minnesota State and Bemidji State University. Minnesota State falls to 8-5 (2-3 NSIC) with the loss.

The Golden Eagles were led by the performance of Maggie Perrel (R-Jr., OH, New Germany, Minn.), who came up with several key plays on the evening. Perrel would finish with 23 kills, finishing the week with two 20-kill performances. Perrel would hit .200 for the match.

In addition to Perrel, Minnesota Crookston had a balanced attack as several players would come up with big plays in the match. Kelci Green (R-Jr., MH, Anoka, Minn.) would finish with 12 kills and hit .320, while her twin sister Kassi Green (R-Jr., OH, Anoka, Minn.) would have 11 kills and hit .133. Kaitlin Sikkink (R-Fr., MH, Saint Charles, Minn.) would come off the bench for four big kills as she hit .200 for the match.

Sierra Trost (Sr., S, Ham Lake, Minn.) had one of her best matches of her career at the setter position as she did a strong job both running the offense and playing defense. Trost would finish with 53 assists and finish the match with a double-double, adding 21 digs. The Golden Eagles would hit .181 for the match with 64 kills and 31 errors.

Trost and libero Ali Schueler (R-Fr., Howards Grove, Wis.) would lead the defense, which played a strong match. Schueler would tally 23 digs on the match.

On the block, UMC look to Callie Schapekahm (So., MH, Eagan, Minn.) with one solo block and three block assists.

Minnesota State was led by Krista Hassing's 18 kills, as she hit .310 for the match, and added five block assists. Sydney Powell added 13 kills and hit .333.

The Mavericks would hit .180 for the match with 53 kills and 23 hitting errors. 

Autumn Risch ran the Minnesota State system, finishing with 37 assists.

Defensively, Minnesota State would finish with three players with over 10 digs. 

Libero Haley Fogarty led the way with 28 digs, while Rissi McNallan added 18 and Risch had 13.

The Golden Eagles would lose a close first set as Minnesota State would come up with the big plays down the stretch, culminating with a Morgan Olson kill to send them to the 25-22 set win.

In set two, UMC would find themselves down 24-21 late but two kills from Rachel Freund (R-So., OH, Jordan, Minn.) would prove clutch as they notched the tally at 24-24.

Down to set point, the Golden Eagles would be able to knot it up at 26-26 after a Kelci Green kill. They would do this again to make it 27-27 after a Perrel kill. Perrel would then come through in the clutch with back-to-back service aces to deliver the come-from-behind set win 29-27 to even the tally 1-1.

The third set would be another nail-biter. Knotted up 23-23, a Risch service error and a clutch kill from Green would deliver the set 25-23 to Minnesota Crookston to put the Golden Eagle up 25-23.

Set four would find UMC down 23-17 but they wouldn't go down without a fight. Five-straight points by UMC would put them ahead 25-24 led by a Kassi Green service ace and kills from Sikkink and Perrel.

However, Minnesota State would come through with the 28-26 win, culminating with a Perrel attack error, to force a fifth set.

The fifth set would be all Golden Eagles as they left little doubt with a 15-9 set victory to deliver the match 3-2 to Minnesota Crookston.

The Golden Eagles will trek to Upper Iowa University Fri., Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. for their next match.  

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.

Follow the Golden Eagles on Facebook at Golden Eagle Sports and on Twitter at @UMCAthletics.

The University of Minnesota Crookston is a NCAA Division II university located in the Red River Valley of Northwest Minnesota. UMC sponsors 11 intercollegiate athletic teams with membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate conference (NSIC) and the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). The NSIC is a 16-team conference with schools situated in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.