Marquette, Mich. – Minnesota Crookston wrapped-up the NMU Open with a pair of matches against Lake Superior State and Central Oklahoma. The Golden Eagles had a quick turnaround after yesterday afternoon's five-set loss to Upper Iowa and lost a pair of matches to the Lakers and Bronchos.
 
With the losses today, Minnesota Crookston falls to 0-4 on the season.
 
Minnesota Crookston vs LSSU
In set one, it would be a back-and-forth affair. The Golden Eagles would trail 7-3, but would fight back and knot things up at 10 after an Audrey Cariveau (Fr., OH, Kevil, Kent.) service ace. Two straight kills from Charlee Krieg (Jr., OH, Cavalier, N.D.) and Bailey Schaefer (So., OH, Brandon, Minn.) would give the Golden Eagles a 14-11 lead.
 
Minnesota Crookston would also lead 21-18, but would fall in a set that would go past the 25^th point, the third time this weekend that the Golden Eagles have been in such a set.
 
Set two would be all Lakers, who would win 25-11, going up two sets to none.
 
In the third set, LSSU would use a 5-0 and a 6-0 run to pull away from the Golden Eagles for the 25-17 set win and the 3-0 win in the match.
 
Cariveau, Krieg and Mara Weisensel (Jr., MH, New Ulm, Minn.) each led the way with six kills, but the Golden Eagles hit .000 for the match as a team.
 
Minnesota Crookston vs Central Oklahoma
The Golden Eagles would look to bounce back against a very good MIAA school in Central Oklahoma. The Bronchos would win set number one, using some big runs for the 25-17 win in the opening set.
 
In the second set, Schaefer and Maria Jose Bustos Garcia (R-Sr., MH, Cartagena, Columbia) would give the Golden Eagles an early lead with back-to-back big kills. UCO would go on another run to take a 10-3 lead, which would be more than enough to win the second set for the 2-0 match lead.
 
In set three, Minnesota Crookston would need a big start and that's exactly what they would get. A service ace by Natalie Koke (R-Sr., S, Caledonia, Wis.) would jumpstart an early 5-1 lead for the maroon and gold.
 
A trio of attack errors by the Bronchos would give Minnesota Crookston a 13-6 lead and the Golden Eagles would eventually stretch that lead to 23-15. A Cariveau kill would give the Golden Eagles set point and Schaefer would finish it off with a kill of her own to get the Golden Eagles right back in the match with a 25-17 win in set three.
 
In the fourth set, Minnesota Crookston would have a trio of two point leads, using some UCO errors and some big swings from Cariveau and Schaefer.
 
The Bronchos would use some big runs and hold off some Golden Eagle rallies to win the set 25-16 and the match, 3-1.
 
Schaefer and Cariveau look to be a pretty dynamic duo as each finished with 12 kills on a combined 70 total swings. Koke finished with another double-double, her second in as many days, finishing with 33 assists and 10 digs. Layne Whaley (So., DS, Ashland, Neb.) collected 17 digs in the match. As a team, the Golden Eagles hit .145.
 
What's Next
The Golden Eagles will head to Kenosha, Wis., for the Hampton Inn Invitational for four matches. The Golden Eagles will take on McKendree University and the University of Illinois-Springfield on Friday. First serve with the Bearcats is set for 9 A.M.