CROOKSTON, Minn. – Shaking off the loss to the top-ranked team in the country, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball defeated Minnesota Crookston, 3-1 (26-24, 25-23, 21-25, 25-20), on Friday night. The Cougars (7-2, 2-2 NSIC) continue their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference road swing at Bemidji State on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 4 p.m.
 
Three Cougars recorded double-digit kills as Averey Yaksich and Lexi Scott both finished with 11 terminations to lead the Cougars. Makenna Rockeman put down 10 kills and Abby Feyereisen had an efficient eight kills to lead USF with a .389 attack percentage.
 
Megan Hamstad handed out 39 assists while Janelle Lam picked up 16 digs to lead the team. Yaksich added three service aces and a pair of block assists to lead USF with 15 total points.
 
The Cougars struggled to close sets, allowing UMC to fight off multiple set-point opportunities in all three sets the Cougars won. Despite the resilient Golden Eagles, USF emerged victorious. Feyereisen connected on three kills in the opening set and a late Yaksich kill helped put UMC away, 26-24.  
 
Hamstad had a couple kills in the second set that helped USF distance themselves from Minnesota Crookston. Scott came on strong before Feyereisen snapped a four-point streak to give USF a 25-23 victory in the second frame. After falling behind early, USF struggled to erase their deficit and UMC took the third set, 25-21, putting the pressure on the Cougars.
 
Looking to end the match in four sets, Scott and Yaksich combined for more than half of USF's kill sin the final set. Scott opened the set with the first points for USF and after a 14-5 run by the Cougars gave them a sizable advantage, she punctuated the victory with her fourth kill of the set for a 25-20.