Golden Eagles Host No. 8 Wayne State, Augustana Friday and Saturday


The Golden Eagles were swept last weekend on the road at the University of Sioux Falls and No. 12 Southwest Minnesota State. The Golden Eagles were swept inside the Stewart Center on Friday night (11-25, 15-25, 19-25). On Saturday afternoon against the top-15 Mustangs, the Golden Eagles played well. Minnesota Crookston fell in four sets, but won the third set in dramatic fashion, 26-24. That third set saw a remarkable 21 ties, but only four lead changes, meaning the Golden Eagles held serve most of the set. This weekend, Minnesota Crookston is back at home against No. 11 Wayne State College and Augustana University. Minnesota Crookston will look to upset the Wildcats and the Vikings, who are playing solid volleyball right now.

• ODD, BUT TRUE. Minnesota Crookston may have lost to the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday afternoon, but they did something pretty interesting. Throughout the entire NSIC schedule, every other game was a sweep, which means the Golden Eagles were the only team besides the winning teams to win a set on Saturday afternoon. The last time something like that happened was in September of last season when Winona State was able to take a set from Upper Iowa, while everyone else across the conference got swept.

• 21. Last Saturday's match between the Golden Eagles and Mustangs saw a little bit of everything. Porsha Porath had a double-double for the Golden Eagles, while Angela Young did the same for SMSU. The third set was a wild one. It started with a long rally that the Golden Eagles eventually scored a point on, after a Deaira Gresham kill. That would be the start of a wild set. That set saw a whopping 21 ties, but only four lead changes, which in itself is remarkable. The Golden Eagles were able to hold off a strong Mustangs team in the third set, 26-24.

• WATERMARK. On Saturday afternoon against the Mustangs, Minnesota Crookston had their highest hitting percentage of the conference season. The Golden Eagles hit .208 against the Mustangs, the highest hitting percentage of the conference season. The previous high was .205, which they did against Minnesota State in early September. The Golden Eagles were led by junior setter Sydney Kruisselbrink who hit .700.

• GO GET 'EM GRESHAM. Another player who had an impact over the weekend was junior Deaira Gresham. The outside hitter from Maplewood, Minn., led the team with eight kills against Sioux Falls and followed up her Friday performance with nine kills and six digs, just one kill and four digs shy from a double-double. Gresham hasn't had more than 10 kills in a match since Sept., 28 in a loss to Winona State, but it sure looks like she's trending in the right direction to break that streak.

• SYD THE SETTER. Junior setter Sydney Kruisselbrink has been a standout for the Golden Eagles in conference play. Kruisselbring recorded her first career triple-double earlier in the month against MSU Moorhead and has continued that solid play. Kruisselbrink followed up that performance with two straight double-doubles against U-Mary and Minot State and was close to getting another one against Southwest Minnesota State, one of the best teams in the nation. Kruisselbrink tallied eight kills on ten attacks and had 30 assists and 7 digs. The Rochester, Minn., native has shown a ton of growth in her third season as a Golden Eagles and she looks to continue that growth as the Golden Eagles near the end of their regular season.

• HEY, IT'S PORSHA! Porsha Porath has been a star this season. The sophomore outside hitter has seen a ton of opportunities come her way, in tune of 761 total attacks. Porath has 223 kills on the season and collected her fifth double-double of the season on Saturday when she recorded 12 digs and 10 kills. It's been a standout season for the former Windom high school star and she will look to play well against two quality opponents this weekend inside Lysaker Gymnasium.

• STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE. It's no secret that the NSIC is one of the best conferences in all of Division II Volleyball. It's also no secret that Minnesota Crookston has seen that first hand this season. The Golden Eagles opened the conference season with nine-time National champions and No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul. Since then, Minnesota Crookston has played five ranked teams and a Sioux Falls team who has been ranked earlier this season. This weekend, Minnesota Crookston plays host to No. 8 Wayne State and Augustana. The schedule continues to be strong for the Golden Eagles.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Sarah Rauen
Record at UMC: 15-60 Season at UMC: Third Season

Wayne State College at Minnesota Crookston
Date: Fri., Oct. 25
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/crk/
Live Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/wvball/media

Augustana University at Minnesota Crookston
Date: Sat., Oct. 26
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/crk/
Live Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/wvball/media


#Tidbits
WAYNE STATE. The Wildcats are one of the hottest teams in the conference, if not the entire nation. The Wildcats won their first nine matches of the season, but lost to Northern State in the second conference match of the year. Since then, the Wildcats are 9-2, with their only blemishes coming at the hands of Northern State and Minnesota Duluth, both of whom are ranked in the top-ten in the nation. The Wildcats swept another top ten team in St. Cloud State on Saturday afternoon.

THEY CAN DO NO WRONG. The Wildcats are enjoying an excellent season. Wayne State started the season unranked, but has shot up the AVCA coaches poll in previous weeks, jumping all the way up to No. 8. WSC is coming off a weekend where they lost in five to Minnesota Duluth and swept St. Cloud State. A weekend where you lose in five to the No. 5 team in the nation and sweep the No. 13 team in the nation is a good weekend.

SPREAD THE WEALTH. The Wildcats are dangerous offensively. A big reason for that is they have five hitters with over 100 kills. The leader of the pack is Tarrin Beller who leads the way with 198 kills on the season. Kelsie Cada, Katie Stephens, Jacie Brahmer and Maddie Knobbe are also over the 100 kill mark on the season.

BLOCK PARTY. Wayne State comes into this Friday's match with the Golden Eagles on a roll and a big reason, is being top-two in the conference in blocks. WSC has 163.0 blocks as a team, which is good for 2.30 blocks per set. Beller leads the way with 1.30 blocks per set, which is second in the conference behind Peyton Ellingson of Northern State.

AUGUSTANA. Augustana is enjoying a resurgance of a season. The Vikings struggled a season ago, finishing 10-18 overall and 5-15 in the NSIC, missing the conference season for the first time since 2014. This season the Vikings are 12-8 overall and 5-6 in the NSIC. The Vikings are coming off a 1-2 week, falling in five sets to USF, sweeping No. 8 St. Cloud State and losing in three to Minnesota Duluth.

MADDY'S A MENACE. Freshman Maddy Guetter leads her team with 204 kills, including 18 against cross town rival Sioux Falls last Tuesday night. The former Wabasso Rabbit star had a career high of 20 kills on 36 total attacks in a win against MSU Moorhead earlier this season.

AMAZING GRACE. Another underclassmen who has performed well this season is sophomore Grace Haberland. The Parker, Colo., native is second in kills behing Guetter with 162. The Vikings future looks bright with Guetter and Haberland in the fold for a few more seasons.

ANOTHER FRESHMAN. Erika Bute has been outstanding in her freshman season as a Libero for the Vikings. Bute, a native of Alden, Minn., leads her team with 406 digs on the season, which is second in the conference with 5.56 per set. Bute had a season and career high 37 digs against Westminster (UT) earlier this season.