#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle volleyball will close out 2023 this weekend as they make their first trip west of the season. The Golden Eagles will head to the University of Mary on Friday and then will look for some revenge on Saturday in the Minot Dome against the Beavers of Minot State. The Golden Eagles opened up the home schedule with those two programs and will now close out the regular season against the Marauders and Beavers. With a sweep, the Golden Eagles will match their 2022 win total, which would be impressive with the amount of freshmen that the Golden Eagles have had to rely upon at a majority of times this season.

·   FOLLOW BAILEY. Ever since the injury to Audrey Cariveau, it has thrust Bailey Schaefer into playing more and playing almost every rotation for the Golden Eagles. She has been really good since then. The junior from Brandon, Minn., was really good on Friday night, finishing with 12 kills on 33 total attacks, having an attacking percentage of .182, a season-high. Her season-high came against the No. 1 team in the nation and the perennial favorites to win the National Championship. Schaefer has been really good and gives the Golden Eagles another weapon for the future.

• NOT SO FRIENDLY STATE CAPITAL. Normally state capital's are supposed to be inviting and fun to visit. For the Golden Eagles in recent years, their trip to Bismarck has been nothing of the sorts. Minnesota Crookston has lost six matches in a row to UMary at the McDowell Activities Center, with their last win coming in October of 2014. Before their six match losing streak, the Golden Eagles won five matches in a row in a six year stretch in Bismarck from 2008-2014. Hopefully this weekend is the start of a good stretch in Bismarck for the Golden Eagles.

·  NOW YOU KNOW MAYA NAME. A lot of people around the NSIC now know Maya Jones after playing more than 20 matches this season. The last time Jones played Minot State and UMary, she was outstanding and probably played the best two matches of her young career. Jones finished with 18 kills apiece in both matches and added two double-doubles as well. Jones also finished with a career-high of 23 digs against the Marauders. Oh yeah, she also hit over .260 in both matches. The Golden Eagles will look for that same output from Jones this weekend on the road against the same two teams she was outstanding against.

·   MADI DIGS.  Madison Carsten has done a little bit of everything this year. She is top-three on the team in kills and total attacks and is second behind Kailee Waasdorp in total digs this season. The freshman from Wadena has four double-doubles on the season and doesn't have a match this season with less than four digs. Carsten might also like playing against the Marauders and Beavers this weekend. The last time she lined up on the opposite side of the net of the Marauders, Carsten finished with career high's in kills (17) and digs (23). Carsten will look to end the season on a high note this weekend.

·    SWAN SONG FOR MARA. People always say that time flies and I am starting to believe that is true. It might seem like the truth for Mara Weisensel as well. The senior from New Ulm, Minn., has made an impact on the Golden Eagles the day she stepped foot on campus back in 2020. The senior has had an outstanding career as a Golden Eagle, as she will end her career top-10 in Golden Eagle history in hitting percentage and solo blocks. This season, Weisensel is hitting .232 on the season and has 46 total blocks, 21 of those are solo. The Golden Eagles will undoubtedly miss Weisensel, but first, they hope that she hits a grand slam before she hangs up the jersey for good this weekend.

·   WHY DOES THE YEAR GO SO FAST? It seems like just yesterday that the Golden Eagles were 0-0, packing up on the bus, driving nine hours, making fun of their SID for liking the hotel orange juice so much and playing their first matches of the season. Fast forward three months and here we are, ready to pack up on the bus and head four hours the opposite direction to end the season. No matter what sport you play, the season seems to go by super fast and the Golden Eagles will look to soak up the final moments of their season this Friday and Saturday.

• EASY FOR EMMA. Emma Malek has played the last four matches this season at a very unfamiliar spot, the setter position, but has filled in for Dana Melby pretty solidly. Malek has more than 20 assists in every match she has played setter this season and finished with a career-high 27 assists and two service aces against Wayne State College on Friday night, who is the number one team in the nation. It's been a pretty easy transition for the athletic Malek.

·   WAAS WAS WONDERFUL. Kailee Waasdorp will close out one of the best freshman seasons in Golden Eagle history this weekend in her home state of North Dakota. The West Fargo native will more than likely finish the season with more than 400 digs on the season and is top-10 in the conference in digs and digs per set. Waasdorp will finish with the most digs in a season since Chelsea Weisner finished with 433 digs in 2013. It will be a season to remember for 'Waas' and she will be wearing the maroon and gold colors for three more seasons, which will excite Golden Eagle fans.


Minnesota Crookston @ University of Mary
Bismarck, N.D. / McDowell Activity Center
Nov. 10
6 P.M.
Live Stats - https://goumary.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live - https://nsicnetwork.com/goumary/


Minnesota Crookston @ Minot State
Minot, N.D. / Minot Dome
Nov. 11
2 P.M.
Live Stats - https://msubeavers.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live - https://nsicnetwork.com/msubeavers/


#OPPONENTOUTLOOK

UMARY. The Marauders will look to return the favor to the Golden Eagles this weekend after getting reverse swept by the Golden Eagles on the road in mid September. Since falling on the road at Minnesota Crookston, the Golden Eagles have played some decent volleyball, beating Augustana and Minnesota State just last Saturday. It will be a different Marauders team than the Golden Eagles faced last time.

THE BEAVER STATE. Nehkyah Ellis might see a steady dose of swings this weekend against the Golden Eagles. This past Saturday, she did finish with 11 kills on 50 total swings and hit .080 in the match. The 50 total attacks for the graduate student from Oregon was the second most of her season, where she had 52 earlier this year against Minnesota Crookston. Stopping Ellis will be a challenge this weekend for the Golden Eagles.

TIGHT MATCHES. Whenever these two teams line up across the net from each other, they are always seemingly close matches. In the last 14 matches between the Golden Eagles and Marauders, only four of them have been sweeps and three have gone the five sets, with the rest going four sets. Expect some more of the same close, tight volleyball on Saturday afternoon. Minnesota Crookston won the last match between these two in five sets. Expect this one to go past three sets as well.

CALL ME COOP. Maddie Cooper was a big reason that the Marauders were able to upset the Mavericks last Saturday in Mankato. The junior finished with 14 kills on 32 total attacks. Cooper tied a season-high in kills and was one attack short of doing the same last Saturday. Cooper finished with six kills against the Golden Eagles and although she is third on UMary in total attacks, the Marauders might try to ride the hot hand

MINOT STATE. The Beavers are 2-24 on the season, but do have a fantastic win over the Golden Eagles earlier this year in reverse sweep fashion. The Beavers have not won a match since that point, having lost 15 straight matches. The Beavers will look to get back to their winning ways this weekend to close out the regular season.

LOCAL FLAVOR. Maybe not so local to Minot, but definitely local to Crookston and the surrounding areas. The Beavers have a pair of players who are within an hour or less from Crookston. Jenna Pahlen hails from Oklee, Minn., and Bailee Brommenschenkel joined the Beavers this past season after transferring from NDSCS. Brommenschenkel hails from Ada, Minn., and was on some good high school teams as a Cougar at Ada-Borup West. The Golden Eagles will look to spoil the nights of some local flavors.

STRUGGLE TO SCORE.  The Beavers are a team that sometimes struggle to put the ball to the floor. This year, Minot State has been outscored by their opponents by more than 500 points and their opponents have more than 400 kills than them on the season. The Golden Eagles will look to expose that this weekend.

REVOLVING DOOR. There are three Beavers that have played in all 26 matches this season: Jaina Macauley, Kendal Braun and Sydney Upton, but there is no Beaver that has started in every match, which is a tough thing to comprehend. On the flip side, the Golden Eagles have two (Waasdorp is the libero) that have started every match in Waasdorp and Madison Carsten.