Houghton, Mich.—After defeating Wisconsin-Parkside in the 2019 season opener, the Golden Eagles were looking to start 2-0. The Golden Eagles wrapped up day one of the Keweenaw Volleyball Classic by Country Inn & Suites Radisson by playing host school Michigan Tech.
 
The Huskies, who on Thursday defeated ninth ranked Southwest Minnesota State three sets to none, continued their strong start to the season, by sweeping Minnesota Crookston 3-0.
 
With the win, the Huskies improve to 3-0 on the season, while the Golden Eagles fall to 1-1 on the young season.
 
Key Players
Minnesota Crookston
Deaira Gresham, 6 kills, 7 digs
 
Key Players
Michigan Tech
Olivia Ghormley, 20 kills, .514 hitting percentage
MacAuley Peterson, 10 kills, .600 hitting percentage
Laura De Marchi, 41 assists
 
Set One
 
In set one, it was dominance from the start for the Huskies, who would jump out to a 16-4 lead, before the Golden Eagles would answer back with a Deaira Gresham (Jr., OH, Maplewood, Minn.) kill to inch closer.
 
The Golden Eagles would try to fight back, but the Huskies proved to be too dominant in set one, winning the first set, 25-10.
 
Set Two
 
The Golden Eagles bounced back nicely right away in the second set, silencing the Houghton crowd, jumping out to a 5-1 lead, which was highlighted by back-to-back service aces from Meli Rodriguez (Sr., MH, Sarchi, Costa Rica).
 
Minnesota Crookston would see their lead diminish however, as the Huskies would rattle off eight straight points to lead 9-5, before a block by Kaitlin Sikkink (R-Sr., MH, St. Charles, Minn.) halted the run to make it 9-6.
 
The teams would then trade points until the Huskies led 12-9 midway through set two. MTU would turn that three point lead into an eight point lead in the blink of an eye and they would never look back, winning set two 25-12.
 
Set Three
 
For the second straight set, Minnesota Crookston jumped out to another 5-1 lead. Porsha Porath (So., OH, Windom, Minn.) and Sikkink played a big part in that quick start.
 
The game of runs for the Huskies continued, as they would stop that quick start from Minnesota Crookston and eventually take an 8-7 lead. MTU's largest lead of the set was 20-12 and it was a lead that the Golden Eagles couldn't recover from, as they fell in set three, 25-19.
 
Minnesota Crookston will wrap up the classic tomorrow with two games, starting with Lake Superior State at 12 p.m., and will finish with Northern Michigan at 4 p.m.