Minnesota Crookston Set for Three Straight Matches Inside Lysaker Gymnasium

For the first time in two weeks, Golden Eagle volleyball is finally back in the friendly confines of Lysaker Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles will have three straight games at home, starting with the University of Mary and Minot State this weekend, while finishing with No. 11 St. Cloud State next Tuesday night. This past weekend, the Golden Eagles fell in three sets to No. 9 Northern State in three sets, then fell to MSU Moorhead on Saturday night in four sets. The Golden Eagles won the third set against MSU Moorhead, then had a 17-14 lead in the fourth set over the Dragons, but couldn't put MSUM away. This weekend will be the first weekend all season where the Golden Eagles will not play a ranked opponent. The Golden Eagles had a stretch where they played a ranked team four times through a five games stretch. Minnesota Crookston started the NSIC schedule with No. 7 Concordia-St. Paul, No. 18 Upper Iowa, No. 19 Winona State and No. 8 Northern State.

• GET BACK ON TRACK. Minnesota Crookston will look to get back to their winning ways this weekend with matches against U-Mary and Minot State this weekend. Both the Marauders and Beavers are winless in the NSIC, but much like the Golden Eagles, they have not had an easy stretch in conference play through their first six games. Both programs have played five ranked teams through the first six games, including St. Cloud State, a team the Golden Eagles will see on Tuesday. The only unranked opponent U-Mary and Minot State have played is Augustana, who if the season ended today, would make the conference tournament. It's been a tough slate for both U-Mary and Minot State.

• TRIPLE-DOUBLE. No, were not talking about one of the best players in the NHL, Sydney Crosby, we're talking about setter Sydney Kruisselbrink. The junior from Rochester, Minn., had a solid weekend for the Golden Eagles through seven sets this past weekend. Kruisselbrink collected 50 assists on the weekend, including 30 on Saturday against MSUM. Against the Dragons, Kruisselbrink also collected a triple-double with 10 kills, 30 assists and 14 digs. It was the first triple-double for the Golden Eagles volleyball program in recent memory. Kruisselbrink is one of 16 players in the nation to record a triple-double. Henielys Ramosfrom Chestnut Hill leads the nation with five triple-doubles on the season. The junior is having a breakout season and will look to continue her strong play this weekend in front of her home crowd.

• MELI WAS MASTERFUL. Melissa Rodriguez was masterful on Saturday afternoon inside Nemzek Fieldhouse. The senior from Sarchi, Costa Rica made the most of her opportunity, collecting four kills on nine total attacks. Rodriguez also had four blocks and two service aces in the match against the Dragons. The Golden Eagles will take that kind of production from the Costa Rica native any day of the week.

• BACK ROW. The back row for the Golden Eagles has been a little bit of a revolving door this season, as both Alyssa Thomas and Ali Schueler have seen some time in the back row for head coach Sarah Rauen. The one consistent spot in the lineup has been libero Katie Lienemann. The junior from Rosemount, Minn., has played in all 14 matches and has started eight for the Golden Eagles. Lienemann is the Golden Eagle with over 100 digs, sitting at 161, which obviously leads her team. Lienemann is averaging 3.22 digs per set and 15 digs on Saturday against MSUM, her third most in a match this season.

• STRONG THIRD SET. This past weekend, the Golden Eagles played a masterful third set in both of their matches against No. 9 Northern State and MSU Moorhead. On Friday night against the Wolves, the Golden Eagles tied the set up three times early on in the set and was down 22-17, before making a run, losing 25-21. On Saturday, the script was flipped as the Golden Eagles won the third set against the Dragons to force a fourth set. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a dominating 19-10 lead which forced a Dragon timeout. The Golden Eagles would fend off a furious rally to win the third set 25-22, but ultimately fell in the fourth set and the match, 3-1.

• NET PRESENCE. Minnesota Crookston has been really good defending at the net this season. A big part of that strength at the net has been because of Lauren Wallace and Kaitlin Sikkink. Wallace and Sikkink have combined for 67.0 blocks on the season, while Sikkink leads the way with 39.0 blocks and Wallace is second on the team with 28.0 blocks. Wallace has at least one block in all but one match this season, while Sikkink has one block in all but two this season. The Golden Eagles actually have seven players with 10 or more blocks. Shelby Dunbar, Porsha Porath, Deaira Gresham, Sabrina Leuer, Kruisselbrink, Wallace and Sikkink are on that list and have been a huge help to the Golden Eagles defense.

• TRIO. The Golden Eagles rely heavily on the trio of junior Deaira Gresham, redshirt-sophomore Lauren Wallace and sophomore Porsha Porath for a lot of their offense. This past Saturday against MSUM, the trio was solid. Between the three of them, they combined for a total of 30 kills on 110 total attacks between the three. The Golden Eagles will need all three to be on the same page this weekend.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Sarah Rauen
Record at UMC: 13-57 Season at UMC: Third Season

U-MARY at Minnesota Crookston
Date: Fri., Oct. 11
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/crk/
Live Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/wvball/media

Minot State at Minnesota Crookston
Date: Sat., Oct. 12
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/crk/
Live Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/wvball/media


#Tidbits
UNIVERSITY OF MARY. The Marauders come into Crookston this weekend looking to pick up their first conference win of the season. Although the Marauders have yet to pick up an NSIC victory, they did pick up a set over No. 11 St. Cloud State last Saturday. U-Mary's only victory was a four-set victory over the Cowgirls of New Mexico Highlands University.

DOMINATION. Last season, the Golden Eagles dominated the first matchup between these two programs inside Lysaker Gymnasium. Minnesota Crookston swept the Marauders (25-11, 25-16, 25-9) for their first win of the conference season last season. Minnesota Crookston will look for the same result in 2019 as they got in 2018.

SMALL TOWN DAKOTA. Morgan Schnabel, the junior from Lehr, North Dakota has been the main attacker for U-Mary this season. Schnabel has 162 kills on the season on a whopping 561 total attacks this season. The former Wishek high school star had a season-high 69 kills against Parkside in their second match of the year.

SHE'S MAKING HER OWN LEGACY. Sydney Murphy was a former Bismarck Legacy star. She decided to stay home and make a legacy of her own for the blue and white and she's doing a pretty good job of that. Murphy has 428 assists on the season, including a match against Wisconsin-Parkside where she had 52 against the Rangers.

MINOT STATE. The Beavers have played one of the toughest schedules in the NSIC. MISU started out with three straight ranked opponents, before defeating the Marauders in a non-conference tilt. The Beavers were swept this weekend at the hands of No. 4 Minnesota Duluth and No. 11 St. Cloud State.

FIVE SET THRILLER. Last season, the Beavers and Golden Eagles played one of the best matches inside Lysaker Gymnasium. Minot State won the first two sets, but the Golden Eagles won the next two sets, including a 30-28 thriller in set three. The Beavers eventually won the match after winning set five, 15-13. Fans will hope to see an exciting match in 2019, much like they did in 2018.

SPULLER'S STORY. Shelby Spuller is in her final season in the magic city, but she is trying to make every second count. The Dexter, Mich., native started out the season with three-straight double digit kills agains Chico State, Hawaii Hilo and Hawaii Pacific. Spuller leads her team in kills with 135 and total attacks with 455.

HIGHWAY-2. Senior outside hitter Emily Falldorf is from right down the road in Bemidji, Minn. Falldorf is second on her team with 82 kills on 232 total attacks. Falldorf had her best match of the season in a three-set win over U-Mary, when she had eight kills on 14 total attacks, which was good for a .500 attack percentage. Falldorf hopes that her success can continue inside Lysaker Gymnasium this weekend.