CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-12) to University of Sioux Falls Sat., Sept. 29 at Lysaker Gymnasium.

The Golden Eagles had a similar performance the night before against No. 12 Southwest Minnesota State University, as they got out of the gate strong but gave up rallies to the Cougars in both sets one and two. Minnesota Crookston held an 11-10 lead in set one before Sioux Falls ended the set on a 15-3 run. In set two, the Golden Eagles were knotted up with the Cougars 14-14 before Sioux Falls finished out on an 11-3 run.

Minnesota Crookston will look to build upon several positives over the weekend as they were able to hang with two strong NSIC teams in Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls in the early going. The Golden Eagles fall to 3-14 (1-8 NSIC) with Saturday's loss, while USF moved to 11-6 (6-3 NSIC) with the win.

Key Players
Minnesota Crookston
Deaira Gresham, 12 kills, .219 hitting pct.
Kaitlin Sikkink, 5 kills, .222 hitting pct., 1 solo block, 1 block assist
Sydney Kruisselbrink, 18 assists
Ali Schueler, 13 digs

Sioux Falls
Bria Barfnecht, 15 kills, .500 hitting pct., 13 digs
Lexi Scott, 13 kills,.579 hitting pct.,  3 block assists, 1 solo block
Krista Goerger, 39 assists
Kasandra Springer, 16 digs
Averey Yaksich, 4 kills, 13 digs

Deaira Gresham (So., OH, Maplewood, Minn.) played a strong match for the Golden Eagles with 12 kills and a .219 hitting percentage. The Golden Eagles finished the night hitting .118 with 23 kills and 12 errors. They were strong defensively with 42 digs for an average of 14 digs per set. Sioux Falls hit .340 for the match with 48 kills and 12 errors. They had 54 digs on the match.

Minnesota Crookston got out to the 9-7 lead following a Porsha Porath (Fr., OH, Windom, Minn.) kill. The Golden Eagles remained in the driver's seat following a Lauren Wallace (R-Fr., OH, Bloomington, Minn.) kill to move the advantage to 11-10. Sioux Falls responded with a 9-1 run as they took the 19-12 lead on a Kasandra Springer service ace. USF used the run to ignite momentum to the 25-14 set one win.

Sioux Falls held the early 10-6 advantage on Minnesota Crookston after a Krista Goerger service ace. The Golden Eagles came back with a 4-0 run as they knotted the match up 10-10 on a Porath service ace. Minnesota Crookston stayed right with Sioux Falls as they led 15-14 after a Katie Lienemann (So., DS, Rosemount, Minn.) service ace. However, the Cougars ended the match on an 11-3 run as they won the set 25-17 following a Lexi Scott kill.

Sioux Falls took early control in set three and did not ook back as they won 25-12 to take the match 3-0.

Minnesota Crookston returns to action as they trek to Augustana University Fri., Oct. 5 for a 6 p.m. start.