UMC Spring Volleyball

CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball team will play a jam-packed spring schedule in April to help prepare the Golden Eagles for a grueling schedule in the toughest NCAA Division II conference in the country in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

UMC’s slate will open up with a spring tournament hosted by South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D. The Golden Eagles will open up the tournament at 9 a.m. against NSIC foe Augustana College, who finished 2012 going 17-13 (11-9 NSIC). At 11 a.m., UMC will play NSIC Co-Champion Southwest Minnesota State University, who went 30-3 (18-2 NSIC) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. At 1 p.m., the Golden Eagles will battle NCAA Division I foe South Dakota State, who went 16-13 last season. The SDSU tournament will conclude at 3 p.m. with a match against Black Hills State University.

The Golden Eagles’ slate will continue April 12 as UMC makes the short trek over to University of North Dakota for a match at 6:15 p.m. against UND, who went 15-17 during the 2012 season.

UMC will then head to a tournament April 14 hosted by the University of Minnesota Morris in Morris, Minn. The Golden Eagles will have a match against NCAA Division III foe Minnesota Morris, who went 21-10 in 2012. The Golden Eagles will then face NSIC foe University of Mary and will wrap up the UMM tournament against Mayville State University.

The Golden Eagles final tournament of the spring will pit them up against elite NCAA Division I competition as they head to University of Minnesota Twin Cities for three matches April 20. UMC will open up the tournament at 9 a.m., against the University of Wisconsin, who went 17-16 in 2012 but are under new leadership as Kelly Sheffield, who led the University of Dayton to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, takes over the program. The Golden Eagles will then take on University of Minnesota at 1:30 p.m. The Golden Gophers went 27-8 last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament under former Olympic men’s and women’s volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon. The tournament will conclude with a game at 2:40 p.m. against the University of Ohio went 21-10 during the 2012 season.

The Golden Eagle volleyball program will return 12 of 14 players from last season’s squad that went 11-16 (7-13 NSIC). UMC will be led by their all-time digs leader Chelsea Wiesner (Sr., Rochester, Minn.), who averaged 4.86 digs per set last season, and by Brittany Looker (Jr., OH, Rochester, Minn.), who was an All-NSIC Second Team selection, after averaging 2.69 kills per set in 2012.
For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics Web site at www.goldeneaglesports.com