BISMARCK, N.D. - The University of Mary Volleyball team took on University of Minnesota Crookston tonight, and the Marauders were hoping to bring the momentum from the win on Saturday back home to Bismarck.
 
U-Mary was beset by mistakes in the first set; the Golden Eagles took advantage of a few attack errors from the Marauders to build a 4-2 lead early in the set. The Marauders kept the score close at 8-6 in favor of Minnesota Crookston, but the Golden Eagles rallied of a 6-0 run thanks to an ace, a team block, and three Marauder errors to extend their lead to 14-6.
 
U-Mary quickly made some adjustments and fought back against UMC's offense. The Marauders pulled off a 10-3 run, thanks to five kills, three team blocks, and two errors from Minnesota Crookston, to narrow the gap to 17-16 in favor of the Golden Eagles.
 
Unfortunately, the Marauders dug themselves out of one hole only to fall back into another as UMC scored eight of the next nine points to close out the first set 25-17.  The Golden Eagles took advantage of five kills, two team blocks and an untimely attack error to put U-Mary away in the first set.
 
UMC kept the pace going into the second set and commanded a 9-3 lead early on after seven kills, an ace, and a U-Mary error. The Marauders would not be silenced so easily as they methodically crawled back into the set.
 
After a 16-7 deficit, U-Mary put the offense into overdrive and tied the set at 22-22 after some clever play from 10 kills, an ace, and four Golden Eagle errors. UMC scored the next two points, putting the Marauders on their heels, but U-Mary had enough for one more point to keep things interesting at 24-23. Regrettably, the Marauders offense ran out of gas and Minnesota Crookston took the second set 25-23.
 
The Marauders seemingly had everything figured out early on in the third set. U-Mary had a comfortable 10-7 lead over the Golden Eagles, but that quickly disappeared as UMC took advantage of three kills and two team blocks to go back up 12-10. The teams went back and forth from that point as the set was tied seven times en route to a 21-21 score. The Marauders climbed back on top at 22-21, but the errors found their way back and the Golden Eagles scored the next four points off a kill, a team block, and two U-Mary errors to put the match away at 25-22.
 
Lauren Randall was the long bright spot on the offense for the Marauders; she finished with 11 kills, 22 attacks, a .364 hitting percentage, two aces, two digs and a block assist. Lauren Boldt did what she could with 9 kills, 24 attacks, one dig and three block assists. Janell Finkbeiner kept her play steady with 27 assists, two kills and one dig.
 
The Marauders (4-19, 1-13 NSIC) have one more game in Bismarck before they head out for their final road trip. U-Mary plays host to Bemidji State University tomorrow, Oct. 25, in the second game of the Marauder's alumni weekend.
 
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