CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-23) Sat., Oct. 7 to Upper Iowa University at Lysaker Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles had late leads in both the first and third sets and were within one point late in the second set. However, Minnesota Crookston struggled to close out crucial points as the Peacocks held on for the victory.

Minnesota Crookston falls to 4-13 (1-8 NSIC) with the loss. Upper Iowa improved to 15-3 (6-3 NSIC) with the win.

The Golden Eagles had one of their most well-balanced attacks on the season as they hit .194 on the day with 40 kills and 16 errors. The Golden Eagles looked to 15 kills from Kassi Green (R-Sr., OH, Anoka, Minn.), who hit .109 for the match. Minnesota Crookston did a strong job of getting the ball to their middles on the match. Callie Schapekham (Jr., MH, Eagan, Minn.) put up one of the best matches of her season with nine kills and a .421 hitting percentage. Kelci Green (R-Sr., MH, Anoka, Minn.) notched seven kills and hit .263 for the match. Deaira Gresham (Fr., OH, Maplewood, Minn.) tallied six kills. Kaycie Hagen (Sr., S, Savage, Minn.) led the team with 33 assists.

Minnesota Crookston also had a strong match defensively as they notched 70 digs for 23.3 digs per set. Becca Vandenheuvel (Sr., DS, Cannon Falls, Minn.) guided the Golden Eagles with 17 digs. Hagen completed a double-double on the day with 15 digs to go along with her 33 assists. Maggie Perrel (R-Sr., Lib., New Germany, Minn.) tallied 10 digs on the match. On the block, Kelci Green notched two block assists on the day.

Upper Iowa hit .241 for Saturday's match with 47 kills and 13 errors. The Peacocks did not make many errors and were strong defensively on the day. The Peacocks looked to 12 kills from Haley Poula, who hit .379 for the match. Haley Weepie notched 10 kills and hit .321, while Bethany Lovhaug added nine kills. At setter, Malissa LeClaire paced the team with 37 assists.

Defensively, the Peacocks notched 62 digs on the match. Upper Iowa looked to 16 digs from libero Ashley Larson. Weepie and LeClaire each notched 12 digs. The Peacocks tallied seven blocks on the day led by five block assists from Lovhaug.

Minnesota Crookston got out to a great start on the match as they raced out to a 5-1 lead with a Schapekahm kill. The Peacocks countered and knotted the match up 6-6 after a bad set from Hagen. The Golden Eagles got the lead back and were up 9-7 following a Gresham kill. Upper Iowa countered, going ahead 10-9 with a Weepie service ace. Minnesota Crookston bounced back following the deficit to go up 16-13 following an Anna Winter attack error. Upper Iowa came right back with four-consecutive points to take the 17-16 advantage on a Poula kill. The Golden Eagles countered and took the lead again 21-19 with a Gresham kill. However, the Peacocks closed out the match by taking 6-of-7 points to come back and take the first set 25-22. The two teams had nine ties in the first set Saturday.

The Golden Eagles again came out with good momentum as they led 4-2 following a Schapekahm kill. They continued to hold the lead 8-5 after a Kelci Green kill. However, Upper Iowa took 7-of-8 points to turn the tides of the match and go up 12-9 with a LeClaire service ace. The Peacocks added to their advantage with a 6-1 run as they went ahead 18-10 on a Hagen attack error. After a crucial timeout, the Golden Eagles countered to go on a 7-1 run as Minnesota Crookston cut the lead to 19-17 following a bad set by LeClaire. The Golden Eagles would pull within 22-21 late in the set after a Gresham kill. Upper Iowa responded with a 3-0 run to close out the set for a 25-21 win.

Upper Iowa raced out to a quick 4-1 lead in set three with a Poula kill. They continued to build on their lead and went up 10-5 with a Lauren Wombles kill. Minnesota Crookston went on a 12-5 run to take the lead 17-15 on a Weepie attack error. Upper Iowa countered with a run of their own of 7-3 as they took the lead 22-20 on a block by Lovhaug. Minnesota Crookston knotted the set up 23-23 with a Kassi Green kill. However, the Peacock closed out the set with kills from Winter and Lovhaug to take the set 25-23 and the match 3-0.

Minnesota Crookston will return to action Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. on the road against Minnesota State University-Mankato.