Crookston, Minn.—The University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball team celebrated senior day for their five seniors on Saturday afternoon inside Lysaker Gymnasium against ranked opponent Winona State.
 
The Warriors proved their ranking by defeating the Golden Eagles in three sets (17-25, 17-25, 16-25).
 
With the loss, the Golden Eagles fall to 4-22 (2-15 NSIC) on the season.
 
Key Players
Minnesota Crookston
Porsha Porath, 6 kills, 29 total attack
Sydney Kruisselbrink, 12 assists
 
Key Players
Winona State
Megan Flom, 15 kills, 26 total attacks
Kate Masberg, 10 kills,
Bre Maloney, 32 assists
 
Set One
The Warriors jumped out to a fast and furious start in front of the Golden Eagle fans, scoring the first four points, before an error from Bre Maloney got the Golden Eagles on the board.
 
The Golden Eagles would get as close as 5-3 early on after a kill from standout Porsha Porath (So., OH, Windom, Minn.).
 
Winona State would extend their lead to 18-10, but the resilient Golden Eagles wouldn't go away quietly, cutting the lead to 22-17, with a big kill from Lauren Wallace (R-So., OH, Bloomington, Minn.)
 
WSU would score the final three points to win the first set, 25-17.
 
Set Two
After falling behind 2-0, the Golden Eagles scored three straight points with the help of two Warriors' errors.
 
The Warriors would score three straight, but Minnesota Crookston would tie things up at five after a Katie Lienemann (Jr., DS, Rosemount, Minn.) service ace.
 
The Warriors would show their fire power, scoring 11 out of the next 16 points to take a 16-10 lead. Once again, the Warriors would let the Golden Eagles back into the set with errors on the next two rallies to lead just 16-12.
 
The Warriors would take care of business from that point on, winning the second set 25-17.
 
Set Three
In the third set, Winona State scored nine of the first ten points to take a 9-1 lead over the Golden Eagles, but a service error from Winona State got the Golden Eagles within seven.
 
The Warriors would lead by as much as 11 at 15-4, but the Golden Eagles scored six straight points with the help of Sydney Kruisselbrink (Jr., S, Rochester, Minn.) and senior Sabrina Leuer (R-Sr., OH, Hamel, Minn.), to make it 15-10.
 
The Warriors would score three in a row to take an 18-10 lead and that would be enough for the Warriors to win the third set 25-16 and the match three sets to none.
 
Minnesota Crookston is back in action for two final times this season as they travel to St. Paul, Minn., and Mankato, Minn., for matches against Concordia-St. Paul and MSU Mankato.