Crookston, Minn.—Minnesota Crookston hosted Augustana for a mid-day match on Saturday afternoon inside "The Hersch".
 
Augustana used quick scoring bursts to defeat the Golden Eagles in three sets (18-25, 16-25, 18-25).
 
Key Players
Minnesota Crookston
Deaira Gresham, 9 kills, 22 total attacks, .273 hitting percentage
Porsha Porath, 6 kills, 35 total attacks
Natalie Koke, 10 assists

Key Players
Augustana
Grace Haberland, 13 kills, 24 total attacks
Izzy Sommers, 12 kills, 25 total attacks, .400 total attacks
Avery Thorson, 40 assists
 
Set One
The Vikings started fast in the opening set, jumping out to a 5-2 lead, before Deaira Gresham (Jr., OH,
Maplewood, Minn.) cut the lead to 5-3 with one of her nine kills on the night.
 
The two teams would go back and forth in the first set. The Vikings would lead 13-10 before the Golden Eagles forced a Vikings timeout by scoring two in a row to make it 13-12 after a Sabrina Leuer kill (R-Sr., OH, Hamel, Minn.).
 
With the score 16-14, the Vikings would score five straight points to force a Golden Eagle timeout leading 21-14.
 
Minnesota Crookston used Vikings attacking errors to cut the lead to 23-18, before AU scored the final two points to win the first set, 25-18.
 
Set Two
It was déjà vu in the second set, as once again the Vikings led 5-2, but once again Gresham cut the lead to 5-3 with another kill.
 
Lauren Wallace (R-So., OH, Bloomington, Minn.) made it 6-4 Vikings after a kill. The Vikings would eventually extend their lead to 16-6.
 
Augustana would have set point at 24-11, but the Golden Eagles showed resiliency and scored five straight points with great serving from Sydney Kruisselbrink (Jr., S, Rochester, Minn.)
 
It wouldn't be enough however, as the Vikings were able to hold off the Golden Eagles and win the second set 25-16.
 
Set Three
The Golden Eagles were the ones who got off to a fast start, leading 3-1 with kills from Leuer and Gresham.
 
The Vikings would score six straight before a Porsha Porath (So., OH, Windom, Minn.) kill stopped the Vikings momentum briefly.
 
The Golden Eagles would stay in the third set and trailed 8-6 after a Meli Rodriguez (Sr., MH, Sarchi, Costa Rica) kill.
 
Minnesota Crookston would get as close as three twice in the third set, but Augustana proved to be too much, winning the third set, 25-18.
 
Minnesota Crookston is back in action this Thursday as they celebrate Halloween for a date with the Beavers of Bemidji State. First serve is set for 6 p.m.