Women's Volleyball | 9/11/2025 9:44:00 AM
#TIDBITS
Golden Eagle volleyball is off to the best start since 2014. The CSC for the Golden Eagles was a senior in high school. In other words, it was a long time ago. Minnesota Crookston played every bit as good as their 4-0 record may indicate. The maroon and gold overcame a long travel day on Wednesday and came back to the great Midwest with an undefeated record. The Golden Eagles were outstanding all the way around and will look for similar success this weekend at the Maverick Invite, hosted by Minnesota State.
· FIVE FLIGHTS LEAD TO FOUR WINS. Minnesota Crookston went a long way to play volleyball this weekend and thankfully, it led to four wins. The Golden Eagles went through three flights on Wednesday, just to get out to the East Coast and then had to travel an hour to play their match at Assumption. The Golden Eagles won that match in five sets and then the next three matches on Friday and Saturday to come back with an unblemished record. The maroon and gold are off to their best start since 2014, when that version of the Golden Eagles started 6-0. This weekend, there will be zero frequent flyer miles put on the Golden Eagles record, but they will head to Mankato for four non-conference matches, before entering the ultra-tough NSIC gauntlet.
· HISTORY FOR WAAS. It's no secret that heading into this year,
Kailee Waasdorp should be considered as one of the best defenders in the Northern Sun. She put that on display this weekend, and then some. The junior from West Fargo, N.D., finished with 93 digs on the weekend, good for first in the NSIC, same with her digs per set, which was a whopping 6.2 digs per set, which also leads the NSIC by a wide margin. Waasdorp also finished with nine service aces on the weekend, which is top five in the NSIC. Waasdorp also became the first Golden Eagle since Chelsea Wiesner in 2013 to be named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week. Waasdorp has put herself solely on the map as one of the best backrow players in the NSIC, which says a ton.
· THE CARSTEN CASE. Madison Carsten was a huge factor in the Golden Eagles hot start on the East Coast. The junior from Wadena finished the weekend ranked first in the NSIC in a number of offensive categories, including: kills per set, points per set and total kills. It was a special weekend for No. 2. Carsten finished with a career-high 23 kills in a resounding four set win over Saint Anselm and quite frankly, she could've finished with a higher total. Carsten's outstanding weekend earned her the first career weekly honors of her career, being named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week, joining her teammate, Waasdorp. Carsten and Waasdorp became the first Golden Eagles ever to be named to weekly honors during the same week.
· ACED 'EM OUT OF THE GYM. In
Nick Meseck's tenure as head coach, the maroon and gold have had solid service numbers. This past weekend, the Golden Eagles elevated those numbers to flat-out impressive. Minnesota Crookston finished with nearly double the aces as their opponents, as they finished with 37 service aces, compared to just 19 for their opponents. Minnesota Crookston has six players with four or more service aces, led by Waasdorp and her nine. The service line was especially good for the maroon and gold in their four set win over Saint Anselm, when they had an earth-shattering eight aces, leading them to a dominant win in the second set.
• ABI IS ABLE. It didn't take very long for
Abigail Ernster to acclimate into collegiate volleyball. Ernster started in every match this past weekend and never really came off the floor, playing pretty much every rotation. The freshman from La Crescent, Minn., had her best match in her first career start, finishing with 11 kills and 18 digs in a five set win over Assumption, both of which were career highs. Ernster also finished with five service aces throughout the weekend. Ernster should continue to get more comfortable as each match goes along.
· AUTOMATIC. Every swing the Golden Eagles took on Saturday against Felician, it seemed like the ball was going to hit the ground. The maroon and gold finished with just 44 kills in the match on just 86 total attacks, good for an astounding .477 attacking percentage. Those numbers right there should tell the story in just how dominant the Golden Eagles were against the Golden Falcons. The .477 attacking percentage was a program best and the highest by a Golden Eagle team in over a decade. Minnesota Crookston finished with just three attacking errors on 86 total attacks, which is a program low by far, surpassing the seven attacking errors in a win by the Golden Eagles on August 31, 2012.
• KEEP SWINGING. The numbers from this past weekend prove just how good and dangerous the Golden Eagles could be. When you're 4-0, odds are, the numbers are going to favor your program and that's exactly what the numbers prove. One of the numbers that is especially eye-popping is the kills per set. Minnesota Crookston is currently averaging 13.1 kills per set, compared to just 8.9 kills per set for their opponents, which is a major difference. Minnesota Crookston did average 11 kills per set a season ago, so the odds that this is an anomaly are pretty small.
· SUB THE SETTERS. Minnesota Crookston ran a different offensive look this past weekend regarding the setter position. The Golden Eagles started freshman
Ellery Ehresmann for three matches and
Dana Melby for one match, but they each played a similar amount. Their numbers are eerily similar. Ehresmann, the freshman and Melby, the redshirt senior, each have 79 assists on the season and each have the same amount of assists per set. Each brings a little bit different to the floor, but each proves to be very valuable and expect similar results this weekend in the house that Glen Taylor built.
How to Follow
Minnesota Crookston vs Upper Iowa
Friday, Sept. 12
8 A.M.
Mankato, Minn. / Taylor Center
Live Stats --
https://msumavericks.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live --
https://nsicnetwork.com/msumavericks/
Minnesota Crookston vs Chadron State
Friday, Sept. 12
4 P.M.
Mankato, Minn. / Taylor Center
Live Stats --
https://msumavericks.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live --
https://nsicnetwork.com/msumavericks/
Minnesota Crookston vs Lake Superior State
Saturday, Sept. 13
8 A.M.
Mankato, Minn. / Taylor Center
Live Stats --
https://msumavericks.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live --
https://nsicnetwork.com/msumavericks/
Minnesota Crookston vs Quincy University
Saturday, Sept. 13
8 A.M.
Mankato, Minn. / Taylor Center
Live Stats --
https://msumavericks.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live --
https://nsicnetwork.com/msumavericks/
Series Quick Look vs the opponents
Minnesota Crookston is 7-13 all-time against Upper Iowa
Minnesota Crookston is 3-2 all-time against Chadron State
The all-time series versus Lake Superior State is all tied at five
Minnesota Crookston and Quincy are tied at one in the all-time series
#OPPONENTOUTLOOK
UPPER IOWA. The Golden Eagles will see a familiar foe on Friday morning in the Taylor Center. Upper Iowa and Minnesota Crookston will meet on Friday at 8 A.M. Upper Iowa, who was a rising program in the NSIC, now resides in the GLVC and are off to an 0-4 start on the year, winning just two sets, with one of those two set wins coming over Winona State.
SIMILARITIES AT SETTER. There will be two teams on the floor on Friday that run a pair of setters. As was talked about earlier, Minnesota Crookston does it, as does Upper Iowa, albeit to a lesser extent. The Peacocks played both Jaeden Cook and Grace Fruzen as setters this past weekend, with Fruzen leading the way with 60 assists, while Cook has 49.
CHADRON STATE. The Eagles might have one of the coolest logos in all of Division II. It's top-notch. Nonetheless, Chadron State is 1-3 on the season, having played a trio of Northern Sun schools, falling to Augustana and Northern State and beating UMary in three sets. This will be the first match between the two schools since 2021 and the sixth overall.
DOMINATION. Chadron State was pretty dominant in their only win last weekend over the Marauders of UMary. Chadron State finished the match with 13 more kills and finished with an attacking percentage of better than .200 points than UMary. Chadron State also scored six more points at the service line.
LAKE SUPERIOR STATE. The Lakers might be one of the more familiar opponents the Golden Eagles have played throughout their history. The Lakers and Golden Eagles will meet for the 11th time dating back to 2007. The Lakers have not played yet this season and are one of the few programs in Division II to have not played yet.
NEW ERA. LSSU enters the year under new direction. Eric Snyder enters his first season at the helm of the Lakers and will look to turn around the program. Snyder brings 20 years of coaching experience to LSSU, including NCAA Division III and NAIA Final Four appearances and an NCCAA National Championship in 2020 with Campbellsville University. Snyder will look for similar success, this time at the D-II level.
QUINCY. Speaking of turnarounds, the turnaround at Quincy has been nothing short of impressive. Head Coach Mark Jones is in his seventh season at the helm of the Hawks and has three straight 20 win seasons, including a 28 win season in 2022. The Hawks have made the NCAA tournament in three straight years. The three straight seasons of 20 wins for the Hawks is the first time since 1991-1994, when the Hawks did that four straight years.
BALANCED ATTACK. Typically, the best offenses are those that have multiple options. It seems like Quincy has just that. The Hawks have three players with more than 24 kills, led by Janelle Pye-Blacknard and her 36 kills. The Hawks will be a challenge for the Golden Eagles and they have a solid offense.
