Sioux Falls, S.D. – Minnesota Crookston was in South Dakota's largest city, Sioux Falls, to wrap-up their brief three match road trip at Augustana.
 
The Golden Eagles fought hard, but Augustana came back in set one and controlled the second and third sets to sweep the maroon and gold on Saturday (23-25, 14-25, 18-25).
 
Minnesota Crookston falls to 1-9 (0-5 NSIC), while Augie wins their second straight to improve to 8-5 (3-2 NSIC).
 
Set One
The Golden Eagles would get off to a great start on the road, scoring the first four points, with the help of a pair of kills from Layne Whaley (Fr., Lib., Ashland, Neb.) and Mara Weisensel (So., MH, New Ulm, Minn.).
 
The Golden Eagles would score three straight points, highlighted by back-to-back big blocks from Maria Jose Bustos Garcia (Sr., MH, Cartagena, Columbia) and Lauren Wallace (R-Sr., OH, Bloomington, Minn.), which forced a Viking timeout.
 
It wouldn't take long for the Vikings to get back into the set, scoring nine straight points to take a 15-11 lead, which forced a Sarah Morgan timeout.
 
Much like they did in the beginning of the set, Minnesota Crookston would score four straight points to knot the set up at 15.
 
From that point on, Minnesota Crookston and Augustana would be tied up at 18, 19 and 20 and every time, Wallace would give the Golden Eagles back the lead with a trio of kills.
 
The Vikings would score five of the seven final points to take the first set, 25-23.
 
Set Two
Augustana would come out firing on all cylinders in the second set, scoring nine of the first ten points in the set to take a 9-1 lead.
 
Charlee Krieg (So., OH, Cavalier, N.D.) would try to get her team back in with a huge kill from the right side.
 
The Vikings would stretch their lead to as much as 13 in the second set and would win 25-14 to take a 2-0 lead in the match heading into the break.
 
Set Three
Augustana would lead 2-0 right away in the third set, but Krieg would get a huge block to get the Golden Eagles on the board and cut the lead in half at 2-1.
 
Augustana would go on a run to make it 8-2, which would force a Golden Eagle timeout.
 
The Vikings would stretch their lead to 17-8, but the scrappy Golden Eagles were not going to go away quietly, with the help of a Weisensel kill and a Wallace service ace.
 
Four points is as close as the Golden Eagles would get, as Augustana would close out the Golden Eagles in the final set to sweep Minnesota Crookston.
 
Individual Stats
Freshman Bailey Schaefer (Fr., OH, Brandon, Minn.) led her team with six kills on 17 total attacks. She also had nine digs in the match. Weisensel and Bustos Garcia collected four kills, while Wallace had three.
 
Natalie Koke (R-Jr., S, Caledonia, Wis.) had 11 assists in the match, which continues her streak of having double-digit assists in every match this season.
 
What's Next
The Golden Eagles are back at home next weekend as they host No. 11 Winona State on Friday night at Gary Senske Court inside Lysaker Gymnasium. First serve is set for 6 P.M.