GOLDEN, Colo. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team dropped its first two matches at the Oredigger Classic on Friday in Golden, Colo. MSUM lost to No. 14-ranked Grand Valley State, 25-16, 32-30, 25-22 and then fell in a tough five-set match to Colorado Christian, 27-25, 18-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-13.
MSUM fell to 0-2 on the year with the losses.
In the loss to Grand Valley State, juniors
Kaitlin VanWinkle and
Abby Wolpern paced the Dragons with 12 kills each. Senior
Maggie Gruber had 10 kills. Junior
Casie Baer had 20 set assists while senior
Sam Sullivan had 18. Junior
Amber Krenske had 21 digs, a match-high.
After falling in the first set 25-16, MSUM faced a 19-13 deficit in the second set before scoring nine of the next 12 points to tie the set at 22-22 Gruber paced the run with two kills, while Krenske added an ace and VanWinkle added a solo block.
From there, the set – which saw 16 ties -- seesawed back and forth before Grand Valley State fought to secure a 32-30 win.
The Dragons built a 13-11 lead after a VanWinkle block. The set was tied at 22-22 before Grand Valley State scored the final three points of the set to record a 25-22 win.
Junior
Morgan Gradishar added seven kills for MSUM.
Against Colorado Christian, Wolpern paced MSUM with 17 kills, while Gradishar had 12 and Gruber 11. Baer had 31 set assists while Sullivan added 19. Krenske had 31 digs while VanWinkle had one solo block and seven block assists.
MSUM was down 2-1 in the match before mounting a comeback in the fourth set. MSUM stormed out to a 12-3 lead in the fourth. Gruber and Gradishar each had two kills during that run while VanWinkle added a service ace. Colorado Christian climbed as close as 23-19, but Wolpern's kill moments later secured a 25-20 Dragon win, evening the match at two sets each.
In the decisive fifth set, MSUM led 4-3 after a Gruber kill, but the Cougars scored the next three points to take a 6-4 lead. The Dragons tied the set at seven after a kill by redshirt freshman
Claire Grimm but were unable to regain the lead. They were within 14-13 after a Gruber kill but a kill from Mollie Bailey gave Colorado Christian at 15-13 lead.
The Dragons held a 22-19 lead in the first set after a Wolpern kill, but Colorado Christian scored four of the next six points to take a 24-23 lead. The Dragons regained the lead at 25-24 after sophomore
Kelsey Hartkopf and Gradishar teamed up for a block, but the Cougars scored the final three points to secure a 27-25 win.
MSUM rebounded in the second set, taking a 14-8 lead after Hartkopf and Gradishar teamed up for a block. The Cougars came back to tie the set at 15-15, but a kill followed by a service ace from Wolpern gave MSUM a 17-15 lead, one they would not relinquish the rest of the set in earning a 25-18 lead.
In the third set, MSUM held a 20-19 lead after a service ace from Krenske, but the Cougars scored six of the final seven points of the set to finish a 25-21 win. MSUM battled back to win the fourth set, sending the match to the decisive fifth set.
VanWinkle added nine kills for MSUM while Wolpern had 17 digs. Hartkopf had six block assists.
MSUM wraps up the trip with two matches on Saturday in Golden. MSUM faces Bentley at 11 a.m. Central time on Saturday and concludes the weekend against Dominican (Calif.) at 5:30 p.m. CT.
