Wayne, Neb. --  No. 8 Wayne State College (9-2, 3-1 NSIC) proved why they are a top-ten team in the nation by sweeping Minnesota Crookston (1-8, 0-4 NSIC) inside Rice Auditorium on Friday evening.
 
Set One
In the opening set, the Wildcats would jump out to a quick 4-0 start, but Lauren Wallace (R-Sr., OH, Bloomington, Minn.) would collect the first of her nine kills to make it a 4-1 score in the opening set.
 
The Wildcats would stretch their lead to 11-5, but the Golden Eagles would score three in a row with the help of a pair of attacking errors by the Wildcats and a kill for Natalie Koke (R-Jr., S, Caledonia, Wis.).
 
WSC would extend their lead to 19-11, but a Mara Weisensel (So., MH, New Ulm, Minn.) would gather a kill to make it 19-12 in the first set.
 
Another Weisensel kill would get the Golden Eagles within six at 21-15, but that's as close as they would get in the first set, falling 25-16 in the opening set.
 
Set Two
A Wallace kill would get the Golden Eagles off to a good start in the middle set, to take a 1-0 lead.
 
From that point, it would be all Wildcats. WSC would score 11 points in a row for an 11-1 lead. Jordan McCormick would have a service error to end her long run at the service line to make it 11-2 Wildcats.
 
WSC would at one team lead 17-2 and that was as large of a lead as they would need, winning the set 25-12.
 
Set Three
Wayne State would get off to another fast start, taking an 8-3 lead, but promising freshman Bailey Schaefer (Fr., OH, Brandon, Minn.) would cut the lead in half with a strong kill.
 
With the score 10-5, the Golden Eagles would use a trio of kills from Wallace, Schaefer and Maria Jose Bustos Garcia (Sr., MH, Cartagena, Columbia) to cut the lead to just two at 10-8.
 
The Golden Eagles would get within two points three times in the third set, but could never get past that metaphorical two-point wall.
 
Schaefer would collect a kill to make it 19-14, but the Wildcats would score six straight points to close out the set and the match.
 
Individual Stats
Wallace collected nine kills on 28 total attacks on the evening, hitting .286 on the night, which is a season-high for the redshirt senior. Weisensel and Schaefer each collected five kills on the evening. Koke had 18 assists and seven digs on the night, which led the team in both categories.
 
Schaefer and Wallace dug out six balls in the match.
 
What's Next
The Golden Eagles will wrap-up their three game road trip tomorrow afternoon as they head up I-29 for a match with the Vikings of Augustana University. First serve is set for 2 P.M., from the Elmen Center.