Bismarck, N.D. – Minnesota Crookston volleyball fell behind two sets to none on Friday night to the UMary Marauders, won the next two sets and eventually fell in the fifth set by a pair.
 
The Golden Eagles fall to 3-22 (1-16 NSIC), while the Marauders move to 9-18 (4-13 NSIC).
 
Set One
The Marauders would jump out to an early 2-1 lead, but a kill from Megan Schoenfelder (Fr., MH, Zumbrota, Minn.) and an attacking error by the Marauders gave the Golden Eagles a 3-2 lead.
 
UMary would score the next four points, but a service error and the first of 19 kills from Maya Jones (Fr., OH, New Braunfels, Texas) would cut the deficit to just one.
 
The Marauders would lead 12-9 and would pull away from that point, winning the first set by nine.
 
Set Two
The middle set would also see the Marauders move out to a quick lead, this time at 4-1.
 
Back-to-back kills from Mara Weisensel (Sr., MH, New Ulm, Minn.) and Bailey Schaefer (Jr., DS/OH, Brandon, Minn.) would tie the set up at six.
 
Trailing 12-8, the Golden Eagles would score five straight points, highlighted by two service aces from Schaefer and kills from Jones and Madison Carsten (Fr., OH, Wadena, Minn.).
 
Tied at 13, the two teams would trade 3-0 runs and would eventually be tied at 16.
 
The hosts would eventually lead 24-21, but two straight points by the Golden Eagles would force a timeout. The timeout would work as the Marauders would get set point and head into the third set looking for a sweep.
 
Set Three
Déjà vu? That's what the Golden Eagles were hoping for as they would look to repeat what they did earlier this year in Crookston and reverse sweep the Marauders.
 
The third set would see a number of ties, with neither team gaining separation.
 
UMary would eventually get separation and take a 17-14 lead, but the scrappy Golden Eagles would come back and take a 21-20 lead on a Jones kill.
 
A Schoenfelder service ace would give the Golden Eagles set point at 24-22 and the Golden Eagles would win the set on an attacking error on the Marauders.
 
Set Four
Set four would be all Golden Eagles.
 
The Golden Eagles would trail 5-3, but they would take a 9-6 lead, capped off by a Jones service ace.
 
Later on in the set, the Golden Eagles would lead by a pair at 19-17, but a 5-0 Golden Eagle run would garner some space and take a 24-17 lead, bookended by a Emma Malek (Fr., MH, Plainfield, Ill.) kill.
 
Carsten would send the match the distance with a kill to win the fourth set 25-18.
 
Set Five
In set five, there would be three instances early on that the Golden Eagles would have two point leads and a bad set from Alexandria Harper would give the Golden Eagles a three point lead.
 
UMary would take an 11-10 lead, but three straight points by the Golden Eagles, including a Malek service ace would give the Golden Eagles a 13-11 lead.
 
UMary would end the set on a 4-0 run to win the set by two and the match, 3-2.
 
Individual Stats
Jones was fantastic, finishing with 19 kills on 48 total attacks and 13 digs, for her third double-double of the season. Schaefer ended the match with 11 kills and eight digs. Carsten added nine kills and 12 digs, while Weisensel finished with eight kills on 34 total attacks. Malek finished with a career best of 41 assists and 17 digs, also a career high.
 
Kailee Waasdorp (Fr., DS, West Fargo, N.D.) finished with 19 digs in the match.
 
The Golden Eagles finished with 10 service aces in the match and hit .137 as a team.
 
What's Next
The Golden Eagles will close out the season tomorrow afternoon at the Minot Dome against Minot State. First serve is set for 2 P.M.