Box Score Moorhead, Minn.—The Golden Eagles were back in action Saturday night against MSU Moorhead inside Nemzek Fieldhouse.
 
The Golden Eagles were looking for their first win of conference play against the Dragons, while MSUM was fresh off their first conference win over Bemidji State.
 
MSUM used their first and second sets to win in four sets (12-25, 24-26, 25-22, 21-25) to propel them to their second straight NSIC win to improve to 7-7 overall (2-4 NSIC). The Golden Eagles fall to 2-12 on the season (0-6 NSIC).
 
Key Players
Minnesota Crookston
Porsha Porath, 16 kills, 45 total attacks, 21 digs
Sydney Kruisselbrink, 10 kills, 30 assists
Deaira Gresham, 8 kills, 36 total attacks
 
Key Players
MSUM
Sarah Petrbok, 13 kills, 47 total attacks, 10 digs
Amanda Carlson, 10 kills, 36 total attacks
 
Set One
The Dragons got off to a 2-0 start for their final match of homecoming, but the Golden Eagles would fight back to tie the game at two.
 
The game would be tied at three and at four, with the help of Deaira Gresham (Jr., OH, Maplewood, Minn.) and Porsha Porath (So., OH, Windom, Minn.), who had back-to-back kills.
 
The Dragons would score four unanswered points to force a Golden Eagle timeout.
 
Minnesota Crookston would come out of the timeout and cut the Dragon lead to 9-6, before the Dragons would go on another run to make it 16-8, which would force another Golden Eagle timeout.
 
The Dragons would use a multitude of Golden Eagle errors to take the first set 25-12.
 
Set Two
Much like the start of the first set, the Golden Eagles and Dragons would go back-and-forth, featuring a multitude of ties.
 
Gresham would be huge in the early stages of the second set, collecting a kill and a service ace.
 
With the score tied at six, the Dragons would score three straight, before Porath stopped the run with a kill of her own. Sydney Kruisselbrink (Jr., S, Rochester, Minn.) and Meli Rodriguez (Sr., MH, Sarchi, Costa Rica) would follow with a kill and a service ace, respectively, to tie things at nine.
 
Later on in the set, the Dragons would go on another 3-0 run, but the Golden Eagles would once again answer back and tie things up, helped by a Lauren Wallace (R-So., OH, Bloomington, Minn.) kill.
 
After the Golden Eagles tied at 13, the Dragons would once again go on a run and take a 20-15 lead, before Rodriguez stopped the momentum with a kill.
 
Minnesota Crookston would later force a timeout after back-to-back huge kills from Porath forced a Dragon timeout. After clawing and scratching, the Golden Eagles would finally tie things up at 22.
 
With the Dragons leading 24-22, head coach Sarah Rauen would call a timeout and it would work, as the Golden Eagles would score two in a row to force a Dragon timeout. After that timeout, the Dragons would score two-straight to win the second set 26-24.
 
Set Three
Minnesota Crookston would jump out to a fast start trying to force a fourth set, taking a fast 6-3 lead, before the Dragons would tie things up at six.
 
Katie Lienemann (Jr., DS/Lib., Rosemount, Minn.) got the Golden Eagles back on track with a kill from the back row.
 
After that Lienemann kill, the Golden Eagles would take control of the set, forcing two Dragon timeouts, the second one coming after a Dragon attack error made it 19-10 in favor of the maroon and gold.
 
The Dragons would make a run and cut things to five at 20-15, but a Wallace kill would give the Golden Eagles a little breathing room.
 
Minnesota Crookston would close the Dragons out with a Kruisselbrink ace to win the set 25-22 and make the match two sets to one in favor of the Dragons.
 
Set Four
The Golden Eagles would once again start fast in set four, jumping out to a 4-1 lead, before the Dragons would eventually tie things up at five.
 
The two evenly matched teams would once again continue to go back and forth as the Golden Eagles would lead 11-9 through the first 20 points of set four.
 
MSUM would tie things up at 12, before a booming Gresham kill down the left side gave the Golden Eagles the lead once again at 13-12.
 
Minnesota Crookston would force a timeout from the Dragons leading 17-14 after Kruisselbrink caught the Dragons defense napping for a kill down the line.
 
After the timeout, the Dragons would score four straight to take a 18-17 lead and force a Golden Eagle timeout.
 
The Dragons would hold off the Golden Eagles to win the set 25-21 and the match three sets to one.
 
The Golden Eagles finally return home next weekend to host U-Mary on Friday at 6 p.m., and Minot State on Saturday at 3 p.m.