Crookston, Minn.—It was a fun atmosphere inside Lysaker Gymnasium as the Golden Eagles welcomed in No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul in for the home opener of the 2019 season.
 
The Golden Bears proved why they're the sixth-best team in the nation, defeating the Golden Eagles in three sets (25-11, 25-17, 25-16).
 
With the win, the Golden Bears improve to 7-2 (1-0 NSIC), while the Golden Eagles fall to 2-7 (0-1 NSIC).
 
Key Players
Minnesota Crookston
Porsha Porath, 9 kills, 35 total attacks, 4 digs
Sydney Kruisselbrink, 12 assists
Katie Lienemann, 7 digs
 
Key Players
Concordia-St. Paul
Jasmine Mulvihill, 13 kills, 21 total attacks, .429 hitting percentage
Erin Fallert, 10 kills, 19 total attacks, .474 hitting percentage
Payton Nutter, 20 assists
 
Set One
In set one, the Golden Bears came out of the gates strong in the NSIC opener. They rode the shoulders of Mulvihill who had three straight kills to put the Golden Bears on top 3-0.
 
Minnesota Crookston would be down 5-2, before Porsha Porath (So., OH, Windom, Minn.) got her first of nine kills on the night to cut the lead to 5-3.
 
Later on in the set, Sydney Kruisselbrink (Jr., S, Rochester, Minn.) made it 10-8 with a kill of her own. After that point, the Golden Bears took control of the first set, to win 25-11.
 
Set Two
In set two, the Golden Eagles would learn from the first stanza and make it a back and forth affair for much of the set.
 
The Golden Eagles would start fast with a Kruisselbrink service ace. It would be one of two service aces for the maroon and gold on the night.
 
The set would continue to be a back and forth affair and would be tied at 10, as the Golden Eagles tied it with a Katie Lienemann (Jr., DS/Lib., Rosemount, Minn.) kill. CSP would go on two separate 3-0 scoring runs to pull away in set two. The Golden Eagles got as close as 23-17 after a Hannah Stark (So., OH, Esko, Minn.) kill, but CSP scored the final two points to win 25-17.
 
Set Three
Set three would see Minnesota Crookston use Golden Bear errors to take a 3-2 lead early on in set three.
 
CSP would take a 4-3 lead before a Porath kill tied the game back up at four. From that point on, the score would be tied at five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 and 13. Talk about back-and-forth.
 
With the score tied at 13, Minnesota Crookston would score four-straight to take a 17-13 lead, before a Makenna Berger service error got the Golden Eagles back within three at 17-14.
 
CSP would score four-straight points again after that point to take a 21-14 lead, a lead that proved to be too much for the Golden Eagles, who fell in set three 25-16.
 
The Golden Eagles proved they can play with the best in the NSIC and they will look to continue that strong play tomorrow afternoon, as the Golden Eagles host Minnesota State in Lysaker Gymnasium. First serve is set for 3 PM. It is the annual Alumni game for Golden Eagle volleyball.