The Wildcats hit .435 as a team to sweep the University of Minnesota Crookston 25-15, 25-13 and 25-12 on the road Saturday afternoon in NSIC conference action in Crookston, Minn. WSC moves to 20-6 overall and 13-5 in the league while the Golden Eagles fall to 1-22 and 0-18 in the conference.
            The first set saw four ties and two lead changes and a Golden Eagle attack error forced a timeout from Minnesota Crookston with the the Wildcats leading 15-11. Wayne State finished the set on top 25-15 and used four kills from freshman outside hitter Jaz DeHaan to lead the 'Cats offense.
The second set started off close and with the score at 7-6 in favor of Minnesota Crookston, WSC used six consecutive serves from DeHaan to take an 11-7 lead. WSC had three service aces in the period and Wayne State finished the set off with a 25-13 set win. Redshirt-freshmen middle hitters Taya Beller and Maggie Brahmer each had five kills and no errors in the set on seven swings to lead the Wildcats offense.  
            Wayne State took an early 6-0 lead on serves from sophomore defensive specialist Jordan McCormick and forced a Minnesota Crookston timeout early in the third period. The 'Cats never trailed during the frame and used six kills on seven swings from Brahmer to win the set 25-12 and the match 3-0.
            As a team, Wayne State had 42 kills and held Minnesota Crookston to just 29 kills in the match. WSC outhit the Golden Eagles .435-.145 and had nine more set assists in the match 37-28. The 'Cats had six service aces in the match compared to just three from Minnesota Crookston and WSC had a 36-32 edge in digs. Wayne State had five blocks in the match and the Golden Eagles had none.
            Two Wildcats hit over .700 for the match with Brahmer hitting .722 with 13 kills and Beller hitting .733 with 11 kills. DeHaan added seven more kills for the Wildcat offense. Sophomore setter Rachel walker had 33 set assists in the match and joined Brahmer and Beller with two blocks each in the match.
Freshman libero Alaina Wolff had nine digs to lead WSC while sophomore Kelsie Cada added eight digs. McCormick and DeHaan each had two service aces for the Wildcats.
            Wayne State will close out the regular season at home next weekend, hosting #12 St. Cloud State Friday at 6 p.m. and Minnesota Duluth Saturday in a 1 p.m. contest.