University of Minnesota Crookston Athletics

Crookston, Minn. -- On faculty/staff night inside Lysaker Gymnasium, Minnesota Crookston volleyball welcomed in MSU Moorhead for a Thursday night affair.

 

MSUM won the first two sets, lost the third set and came back in set four to knock off the Golden Eagles in four sets (15-25, 23-25, 25-17, 17-25).

 

Minnesota Crookston falls to 3-10 (1-4 NSIC).

 

Set One

The first set would see ties at one, two and three, following a kill from Carizma Muth (Sr., OH, Randolph, Wis.) to tie it at three.

 

The Dragons would take a 12-8 lead, but the Golden Eagles would get within two following a kill from Madison Carsten (Sr., OH, Wadena, Minn.) and a block from Jacelyn Crane (Fr., MH, Cumming, Iowa).

 

From that point on, it would be all Dragons, who would win the set by 10.

 

The Dragons finished with 19 kills in the opening set.

 

Set Two

The middle set would be a much better start for the Golden Eagles, who would take a 4-2 lead, following an Adrienne Venditto (So., DS, Grand Rapids, Minn.) service ace.

 

Another service ace, this time from Carsten, would give the Golden Eagles an 8-5 lead.

 

MSUM would go on a large run and take a 15-9 lead and eventually, a 19-12 lead.

 

That's when the set would get interesting.

 

Venditto would go on a 3-0 run at the service line and make it 19-15.

 

MSUM would side out and take a 20-15 lead, but another 3-0 run, capped off by a Madilyn Dinges (Fr., MH, Hartford, S.D.) kill.

 

Another 3-0 run by the Golden Eagles would finally tie the set at 21 and we would reset late in the second.

 

With the help of Golden Eagle service errors, the Dragons would win the set by a pair.

 

Set Three

With their backs against the wall, the Golden Eagles would answer in a huge way.

 

Another fast start would lead the Golden Eagles to an 8-4 lead after a pair of Dragon attacking errors.

 

Later in the set, Muth would help the Golden Eagles score five straight for a 19-11 lead, forcing a pair of Dragon timeouts during that run.

 

MSUM would creep their way back in the set, but the scrappy Golden Eagles would close out the third set on another kill from Carsten, meaning we would play a fourth set.

 

Set Four

The Golden Eagles looked well on their way to pushing the match to five, as another Venditto service ace would give the Golden Eagles a five point lead at 6-1.

 

MSUM would come back and take an 8-7 lead, but back-to-back points by the Golden Eagles would make it 9-8.

 

Later in the set, Muth would collect a kill to cut the lead to 15-13, but that would be as close as the Golden Eagles would get, as they would fall by eight in the final set.

 

Individual Stats

It was another outstanding performance from Carsten, who finished with 15 kills on 38 attacks, while also collecting 12 digs, her fourth double-double on the season and third straight match with 10 or more digs.

 

Emma Malek (Sr., MH, Plainfield, Ill.) added seven total kills, while Bella Peters (Fr., OH, Altona, Manitoba) continued her stretch of great play, tying her career-high with six kills on a career best 23 total attacks. Dinges finished with two kills and added a career-high 4 blocks on four block assists.

 

The Golden Eagles finished with 16 total blocks, tying their season-high.

 

What's Next

Minnesota Crookston will head on the road on Saturday for a date with the 'Dogs. First serve with Minnesota Duluth is set for 2 P.M., from Romano Gymnasium.