Boy, what a long, long time it has been since we have seen Golden Eagle Volleyball take the floor. Sure there was a spring season, but it was only one 'official' game and it resulted in a loss for the Golden Eagles. The Golden Eagles last match in the fall came on Nov. 16, 2019, which resulted in a loss to Minnesota State. This year, the Golden Eagles will have a bunch of new faces during the 2021 season. Minnesota Crookston has just two seniors on the roster, including 2021 NSIC Preseason Player to Watch for the Golden Eagles: Lauren Wallace. Minnesota Crookston kicks off the season on Friday, Sept. 3 against Fort Hays State in Pueblo, Colo.

• LEAD THE WAY, LO. Golden Eagle fans will be seeing a bunch of new faces this season inside Gary Senske Court at Lysaker Gymnasium. One face that won't be new is fifth-year senior Lauren Wallace. Wallace is by far the most experienced hitter and player for the Golden Eagles. Wallace has played in 55 career matches for the Golden Eagles, starting in 42 of those matches. Wallace collected a career-high 16 kills earlier this spring against UMary and collected 13 kills in a five-set loss against Northern Michigan in 2019. Wallace will be relied on a lot this season to carry the offense.

• FROM NEMZEK, COMES MESECK. Head Coach Sarah Morgan recently announced the hiring of assistant coach Nick Meseck. The newly-appointed Assistant Meseck comes to Minnesota Crookston following a stint at his alma mater, Minnesota State University Moorhead. Meseck will be the second assistant to work under Morgan, replacing Anna Morgan, who left earlier this year.

• SET WITH NATALIE. Another experienced Golden Eagle comes in the form of redshirt junior setter Natalie Koke. The Caledonia, Wis., native will be the most experienced setter that the Golden Eagles have, followed by Dakota College at Bottineau transfer Samantha Harris, who is also a junior and hails from Farmington, N.M. Whether it is Koke or Harris, the Golden Eagles will have really good options at the setter position in 2021.

• FIRST FOR EVERYTHING. This year's roster will feature two athletes that are native to a state and country that the Golden Eagles haven't had on their roster dating back to 2010. Samantha Harris and Bojana Stekovic hail from the state of New Mexico and the country of Serbia, respectively. Stekovic joins Maria Bustos Garcia (Columbia) as the two international student-athletes for the Golden Eagles this season.

• FRESHMAN FENOMS. For the most part, when a team has a lot of new faces, it will have freshmen on the roster. That is true this season for the Golden Eagles, who will have two freshmen on the roster for 2021. Bailey Schaefer was a three-sport athlete for Brandon-Evansville H.S., in Brandon, Minn. Schaefer was the only person in program history to achieve more than 1,000 kills, while also averaging double-digit kills per match while in high school. The other freshman is Layne Whaley, a native of Ashland, Neb., where she was a four-year varsity letter winner at Ashland-Greenwood H.S., and was also an All-Omaha Area Honorable Mention selection, where she also helped her team to the State Class B semifinals in 2020. The two freshmen might be relied on heavily this year for Minnesota Crookston.

• OH HEY, GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN. This weekend in Pueblo, Colo., will feature some old opponents, and one brand new opponent. The most familiar opponent for the Golden Eagles will be Chadron State, who the Golden Eagles have played four times, the last being in 2007. CSU-Pueblo and Rollins College (Fla.) are one-time opponents of the Golden Eagles. The Tars and the Golden Eagles last met in 2002, when the Golden Eagles Volleyball SID was just five. Yes he is indeed old. Fort Hays State and Minnesota Crookston have never played.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Sarah Morgan
Record at UMC: 15-70

Fort Hays State
Friday, Sept. 3
2 P.M.
2019 Record.......7-21
MIAA Record...........4-16
Head Coach............Jessica Wood-Atkins (4th Season)
Key Player............Morgan Christiansen (Lincoln, Neb., Soph.)


Chadron State
Friday, Sept. 3
6 P.M.
2020 Record.....4-10
RMAC Record....3-9
Head Coach......Jennifer Stadler (3rd Season)
Key Player...........Lexi Hurtado (Aurora, Colo., Soph.)


Rollins College (FL)
Saturday, Sept. 4
10 A.M.
2020 Record.....0-10
SSC Record.......0-10
Head Coach.......Mika Robinson (6th Season)
Key Player.....Candace Doxey (Jacksonville, Fla., Senior)


Colorado State Pueblo
Saturday, Sept. 4
8 P.M.
2021 (Spring) Record.....11-4
RMAC Record.....9-2
Head Coach.....Austin Albers (3rd Season)
Key Player.........Elaine Thibadeau (Monument, Colo., Jr.)


Steel City Showcase (Pueblo, Colo.)
Date: Sept. 3-4
Teams: Fort Hays State, Rollins College, Chadron State, UMary, Colorado State Pueblo (Hosts)
Massari Arena
Video: https://rmacnetwork.com/gothunderwolves/
Live Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/schedule.php?live=1&gid=csup


Opponents Outlook
FORT HAYS STATE. Fort Hays State will be a brand new opponent for Minnesota Crookston. The Tigers and Golden Eagles have never met in Volleyball. The Tigers played a brief 2020 spring season, going 3-10 in the MIAA and falling to Central Oklahoma three sets to one in the MIAA Spring Tournament.

YOUNG TALENT. Even though the Golden Eagles have just two seniors on this year's roster, they will have two more seniors than the Tigers will have. FHSU has zero seniors this season, so they will be relying on a young, albeit talented group to win some matches this season.

CHADRON STATE. The Eagles will be the most familiar opponent for Minnesota Crookston when it travels to the Steel City. The Eagles and Golden Eagles have met four times previously, with the last meeting coming back in 2007, a five-set win for Chadron State. The Golden Eagles lead the all-time series with Chadron State, 3-1.

PUT THE HURT ON THEM, LEXI. Although the Eagles won just four games in the shortened fall season of 2020, one bright spot was sophomore Lexi Hurtado. Hurtado came to Chadron State after transferring from Florida Southwestern State College. Hurtado led the Eagles in almost every offensive category, including kills with 111. Her best game was against Adams State where she collected 16 kills, a career-high.

ROLLINS COLLEGE. The Tars will be the Golden Eagles third opponent in Pueblo, Colo., and just the second time these programs have met; the loss dating back to 2002, a five-set win for Rollins College. The Tars finished the spring 0-10, while winning just two sets on the season.

DOXEY HAS THE MOXEY. The Tars will be a fairly young team, although they will have five seniors leading the way. One of those five seniors is Candace Doxey. The native of Jacksonville, Fla., Doxey recorded 55 kills in just 10 matches in 2020 and recorded a career-high 155 in 2019. Expect Doxey to get a ton of chances this season, especially early on for the Tars (which is a fantastic nickname, btw.)

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, PUEBLO. On paper, the ThunderWolves project to be one of the best teams in the RMAC. In spring 2020, the CSU-Pueblo went 11-4, including three wins over ranked opponents, including an opening game win over #2 Regis in five sets. The ThunderWolves are well-coached, experienced and could be one of the best teams in the nation this season.

JAZZY IS VERSATILE. Jazzy Espinoza is a do-it-all type for the ThunderWolves. The Cheyenne, Wyo., native earned All-RMAC First Team honors during the spring season, while ranking first in aces per set (.56) and second in total aces (29). She led CSU Pueblo with 165 points scored and was second with 2.04 kills per set. Espinoza is a star for CSU-Pueblo.