ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston women's volleyball team held with No. 21 Michigan Tech University for the majority of the match Sat., Sept. 14, despite a 3-0  (25-18, 25-12, 25-18) win for the Huskies at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud, Minn. The Golden Eagles had a 17-13 lead late in the third set over Michigan Tech, but the Huskies notched 12 of the final 13 points in the set to take the third stanza 25-18 and the match 3-0.

The Golden Eagles move to 1-6 on the season, while Michigan Tech improves to 5-3. Minnesota Crookston and Michigan Tech also played in Houghton, Mich., last weekend. The Huskies won that match 3-0 (25-10, 25-12, 25-18). The Golden Eagles showed much improvement against Michigan Tech. Minnesota Crookston had vast improvement defensively over the two matches with the Huskies. The Golden Eagles allowed the Huskies to hit an impressive .402 in the first match they played last weekend. On Saturday, Minnesota Crookston limited Michigan Tech to a .262 average. The Huskies had 42 kills and 14 errors on the match. The Golden Eagles hit .073 on the match with 28 kills and 20 errors.

Minnesota Crookston was propelled by Porsha Porath (So., OH, Windom, Minn.), who had 13 kills with a .216 hitting percentage. Porath is leading the Golden Eagles this season with 3.04 kills per set. In addition, Sabrina Leuer (R-Sr., OH, Hamel, Minn.) added five kills and hit .143 for the match. Sydney Kruisselbrink (Jr., S, Rochester, Minn.) led the team with 20 assists and added four digs.

Defensively, Minnesota Crookston looked to Katie Lienemann (Jr., DS/Lib., Rosemount, Minn.) with 11 digs, while Kruisselbrink added 10. Kaitlin Sikkink (R-Sr., MH, St. Charles, Minn.) and Leuer paced the block with four apiece.

Michigan Tech was propelled by 11 kills by MacAuley Petersen. Janie Grindland added seven kills, while Olivia Ghormley chipped in six kills. At setter, Laura De Marchi led the squad with 27 assists.

Defensively, Grace Novotny paced the Huskies with 14 digs, while Megan Utlak added 10 digs, as did Anna Jonynas. On the block, Michigan Tech looked to Morgan Radtke with three blocks.

Michigan Tech took an early 8-3 advantage on Minnesota Crookston with a kill by Courtney Kurkie. The Huskies extended their lead to 11-4 on an Alyssa Thomas (Sr., DS, Marion, Iowa) service ace. Michigan Tech continued to build on their lead as they moved the advantage to 14-5 utilizing a Peterson kill. The Golden Eagles used a 3-1 rally to close the gap to 15-8 using a Ghormley attack error.
Minnesota Crookston was able to continue their charge in the middle of the match as they closed it to within 18-14 on a Kruisselbrink kill. The Golden Eagles won a long rally to cut it to 21-16 despite a short power outage during the rally. Minnesota Crookston obtained the point on a Porath kill. The Golden Eagles followed the long rally with a kill from Porath. However, Michigan Tech took four of the final five points to win the set 25-18 to go ahead 1-0.

Minnesota Crookston came out of the gate with a sense of urgency in set two as they took the first three points following an Jonynas attack error. Michigan Tech responded by taking the next seven points culminating with a Porath attack error as the Huskies went ahead 7-3. Minnesota Crookston cut the deficit to 8-4 using a quick ball from setter Kruisselbrink put down for a kill. The Huskies moved their lead back out to 13-7 with an Ghormley service ace.  Michigan Tech would extend their lead to 17-9, but Minnesota Crookston was able to bring it back within 17-10 on a Leuer kill. The Huskies responded by taking five-straight points to push the advantage back out to 22-10. Minnesota Crookston would come within 23-12 on a set error for the Huskies. Michigan Tech closed out the set with a 25-12 win following a Sikkink attack error.

The Golden Eagles started fast again in the third set as they pushed out to a 3-1 lead with a Porath kill. Michigan Tech knotted the game up 3-3, but Porath responded with a huge kill to put Minnesota Crookston back on top 4-3. Minnesota Crookston moved the lead to 6-5 on an attack error by the Huskies. Michigan Tech countered and took the lead 8-7 utilizing a Grindland kill. The Golden Eagles knotted the match up 8-8 with a Leuer kill. However, the Huskies took three of the next four points to extend their lead to 11-9. The Golden Eagles responded with a block from Kruisselbrink and Shelby Dunbar to knot the game at 11-11. Minnesota Crookston continued a 3-0 rally with a Ghormley attack error as they took a 12-11 advantage. Michigan Tech knotted the game up at 13-13 with a Jonynas kill. Minnesota Crookston responded and took the next four points led by a Porath service ace and a Leuer block. The Huskies rallied and took three-straight points to cut the lead to 17-16 following a Minnesota Crookston set error. Michigan Tech made it four-straight points to knot it up 17-17. The Golden Eagles responded in a tough spot as they took an 18-17 lead on a service error by the Huskies. Michigan Tech was able to counter as they took the advantage back 19-18 using a Jonynas service ace. The Huskies were able to close out the set as they won the frame 25-18 and 3-0.

Minnesota Crookston concludes play at the 2019 Best Western Kelly Inn Huskies Volleyball Classic at 5 p.m., Sat., Sept. 14 at 5 p.m., against South Dakota School of Mines.