Crookston, Minn.—After spending two weekends in a row on the road, the Golden Eagles were finally back inside Lysaker Gymnasium for a date with the University of Mary.
The weather outside didn't stop a really good crowd of 715 see the first Golden Eagle conference win of the season over the Marauders in four sets (13-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19).
Key Players
Minnesota Crookston
Kaitlin Sikkink, 12 kills, 15 total attacks, .800 attack percentage, 2 blocks
Porsha Porath, 9 kills, 36 total attacks
Sydney Kruisselbrink, 32 assists, 19 digs (double-double)
Key Players
U-Mary
Morgan Schnabel, 17 kills, 51 total attacks, 13 digs
Caitlin Schneeweis,9 kills, 32 total attacks
Julianna Hughes, 7 kills, 26 total attacks
Set One
The Marauders jumped out to a quick and fast start, as they quieted a good crowd inside Lysaker Gymnasium early on.
The Marauders and Golden Eagles were tied at four, but the Marauders went on a run and pulled away to win set one, 25-13.
The telling stat in set one was the Marauders were really good on their sideout opportunities, going 8-14 for 57%, while the Golden Eagles were 7-24, good for just 29%.
Set Two and Three
Much like they have all season long, the Golden Eagles bounced back nicely and played a quality second and third set.
In both sets, the Golden Eagles would jump out to an early lead and never give up that lead, as they would lead the entire way in the middle sets.
The Golden Eagles were helped by the middle hitters
Meli Rodriguez (Sr., MH, Sarchi, Costa Rica) and
Kaitlin Sikkink (R-Sr., MH, St. Charles, Minn.). Sikkink led her team with 12 kills on the night on 15 total attacks. Sikkink broke the single-game record for attack percentage with a .800 attack percentage, a record that stood for 17 years, previously held by Jamie Wolff.
Set Four
The Golden Eagles took the momentum of sets two and three to put the Marauders away in the fourth set with a 25-21 set win to win the match.
Porsha Porath (So., OH, Windom, Minn.) and
Sydney Kruisselbrink (Jr., S, Rochester, Minn.) were solid all night long, but especially in the final set tonight.
After collecting one of the first triple-doubles in school history, Kruisselbrink followed up her historic match against MSUM last Saturday with another impressive outing tonight. The junior from Rochester finished the night with 32 assists and 19 digs.
It was a great night inside Lysaker Gymnasium and the Golden Eagles will look to continue their winning ways against Minot State tomorrow afternoon. First serve is set for 3:00 p.m.