Golden Eagles Hit the Road for Second Straight Week at Northern State, MSUM

Minnesota Crookston is back on the road this weekend for matches with No. 9 Northern State and MSU Moorhead. The Golden Eagles will look to get their first conference win of the season on the road this weekend. Last weekend, the Golden Eagles played two really good opponents in No. 22 Upper Iowa and Winona State, who got top-25 votes this week in the AVCA coaches poll. Minnesota Crookston jumped out early on the Peacocks in set number one last Friday night, but couldn't hold on and eventually lost in three to Upper Iowa. This weekend, the Golden Eagles will look to finish and maybe pull off an upset against No. 9 Northern State. The Golden Eagles last win over a ranked opponent was Sept. 30, 2011, when the maroon and gold swept Minnesota State inside Lysaker Gymnasium.

• NSIC STRENGTH. It will be another weekend of playing a nationally ranked team this weekend for the Golden Eagles. Minnesota Crookston will see a lot of those nationally ranked teams in the NSIC this season. Through the first two weeks of conference play, the maroon and gold has played a ranked team. They started with No. 7 Concordia-St. Paul for the home opener two weeks ago and played No. 22 Upper Iowa last Friday night. This weekend, the Golden Eagles will play another ranked opponent, in No. 9 Northern State inside Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D.

• HOLD SERVE. This season, the Golden Eagles have done a really good job of forcing opponents into service errors. On the season, Minnesota Crookston has just 74 errors from the service line and their opponents have 10 more service aces than the Golden Eagles this season. Through 12 games, Minnesota Crookston has forced four of their opponents into double-digit service errors, including three consecutive to start the season against Wisconsin-Parkside, Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan. Minnesota Crookston also forced 13 against the Mavericks of Minnesota State.

• SOLID RETURN. Deaira Gresham had a nice return to the Golden Eagle lineup last weekend. After missing te previous five games, Gresham returned last weekend and played in five sets over the weekend, including all three against Winona State. The junior from Maplewood, Minn., had 12 kills on 35 total attacks and even added 10 digs against the Warriors on Saturday afternoon. Gresham is a big piece to the Golden Eagles success and she will look to continue her strong play this weekend.

• CONSISTENCY. The Golden Eagles have played in five matches this season and there have been five players that have played in every single match this season. Katie Lienemann, Kaitlin Sikkink, Porsha Porath, Sabrina Leuer and Ali Schueler have been the constants in the Golden Eagle lineup this season.

• HOLY HANNAH. Along with Porsha Porath, Hannah Stark represents a good sophomore class for head coach Sarah Rauen. Stark has played in eight matches this season and has started in three. Stark had a career-high 10 kills  on 32 total attacks, which was also a career-high in a four-set loss to Lake Superior State in early September. Against No. 22 Upper Iowa, Stark had five kills on 19 total attacks last Friday in Fayette, Iowa. Stark played well last weekend and will hope to do the same this weekend against No. 9 Northern State and MSU Moorhead.

• STRONG AT THE NET. 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 57.0 blocks on the season, while Sikkink leads the way with 31.0 blocks and Wallace is second on the team with 26.0 blocks. Wallace has at least one block in all but one this season, while Sikkink has one block in all but two this season.

• LEAN ON PORSHA. In her second season as a Golden Eagle, Porsha Porath is becoming the Golden Eagles go-to player through her first 33 matches. Porath has 127 kills on 450 total attacks on the season, both of which leads the maroon and gold. In the final non-conference game this season, Porath had 23 kills on a whopping 63 total attacks.

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Sarah Rauen
Record at UMC: 13-55 Season at UMC: Third Season 


Minnesota Crookston at Northern State
Date: Fri., Oct. 4
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/northern/
Live Stats: https://nsuwolves.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary

Minnesota Crookston at MSU Moorhead
Date: Sat., Oct. 5
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
Live Stats: https://www.msumdragons.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary


#Tidbits
NORTHERN STATE. The Wolves are a traditional power, not only in the NSIC, but also nationally. This season, NSU is ranked No. 9 on the season and comes into this weekend's matchup with Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State 10-2 overall and 3-1 in NSIC play. The Wolves only blemish in the NSIC was to No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State in five-sets. The Wolves made the NCAA Central Regional tournament last season, where they fell in five-sets to Washburn University in Kearney, Neb.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ASSISTS LEFT? Ashley Rozell has been one of the best setters in the conference throughout her entire Northern State career. Rozell was named to the NSIC All-Conference first team as both a redshirt sophomore and junior and last season finished with 1,375 assists, which set the school record for most assists in a season. In her final season as a Wolf, Rozell has 521 assists, which is third in the conference.

FARGO STRONG. Jaiden Langlie, a native of Fargo, N.D., and Fargo Davies high school has been really good defensively in her senior season. Langlie leads her team with 197 digs and has had four-straight conference games with over 20 digs.

DYNAMIC DUO. Laura Snyder and Jenna Reiff have been a strong duo this season for NSU. Both rank in the top ten in kills per set, as Snyder is third with 4.56 and Reiff is ninth with 3.37. Snyder leads her team with 196 kills, whil Reiff isn't far behind with 145. Sally Gaul has also been an offensive threat this season, with 141 kills on the season.

MSU MOORHEAD. The Dragons started out white hot to open the 2019 season. MSUM traveled out to Edinboro, PA., for a tournament to open the season and started out 4-0. MSUM entered NSIC play at 5-3, but have struggled in one of the best conferences in the nation, going 0-4. MSUM has lost six in a row, but has a chance to end that skid with matches against Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State.

PETRBOK DOES IT ALL. Sarah Petrbok has done it all this season for the Dragons. The sophomore from Addison, Ill., leads the team in blocks, kills per set, service aces and digs this season for the Dragons. Pretty impressive numbers for the former Addison Trail high school star.

ALL IN THE FAMILY. Brooke Walthall is a freshman on the MSUM volleyball team. Her dad is longtime men's basketball coach Chad Walthall. So far, Walthall has made an impact defensively, collecting 23 digs on the season.

RIGHT UP HER ALLEY. Amber Bretwisch leads her Dragons with 229 assists in her first season. The freshman from Woodbury, Minn., has stepped right in to the setter spot and has ran with it. Bretwisch has a career-high 32 kills in her third collegiate game in a four-set win over Glenville State. Bretwisch will look to continue her outstanding first season for the Dragons this weekend against the Golden Eagles and Beavers.