Krenz makes history as Huskies sweep Crookston

Tuesday, October 15

Crookston, Minn.

6 p.m.

St. Cloud State

15-2,9-0NSIC

Minnesota Crookston

4-13,2-7NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Minn.-Crookston

Clara Krenz became the program's all-time leader in digs Tuesday afternoon.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

10/15/2019 7:48:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

CROOKSTON, MINN. – Entering the season, it was a well-known fact that St. Cloud State University volleyball's Clara Krenz (Oakdale, Minn. / North St. Paul) was defensively going to be a force to be reckoned with.

So far, she's lived up to the hype and, on Tuesday night, cemented herself as one of the greatest liberos in program history.

In a Tuesday Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) night cap, Krenz led the Huskies to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-5, 25-20) sweep of the University of Minnesota-Crookston and became the program's all-time leader in career digs. Thanks to her 17 dig performance, the senior libero passed former standout Brianne Stamer in the record books, with 1934 digs in her career as a Husky.

Krenz wasn't the only player on fire Tuesday night, as the team itself made a little history of its own. Thanks to a strong service game, St. Cloud State recorded 12+ aces in a match for the first time since 2015, finishing the match with 14 total. Leading the charge behind the service line were Linsey Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn. / Maple Lake) and Taylor Olstad (Eagan, Minn. / Eagan), who ended the match with four aces a piece while Maddy Torve (Loretto, Minn. / Heritage Christian Academy), Krenz, Abigail Groeneweg (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) and Allison Naughton (Des Moines, Iowa / Dowling Catholic) accounted for the other seven.

The Huskies led in every statistical category but one, as they tallied more points (61.0/25.0), kills (44/15), aces (14/5), assists (41/14) and digs (44/26) than the Golden Eagles over the course of three sets. In fact, Rachel set the tone early in the match, as she recorded four consecutive aces to help St. Cloud State jump out to an early 6-0 lead in set one. Though Minnesota-Crookston managed to stop Rachel's run, the home team was never truly able to get back in the set, as the Huskies took the first 25-18 and a 1-0 lead in the match.

If fans thought St. Cloud State was dominant in set one, they were in for a surprise in set two. What the Huskies did well in the first set, they did better in the second, as they cruised to a 25-5 victory. In fact, the team was nearly flawless in the set, as it recorded a .444 hitting percentage, as the hitters recorded 12 kills and zero errors on 27 attempts. It was the serving game, though, that once again was dominant, as strong serves from the baseline kept the Golden Eagles off balance offensively and kept the Huskies in the driver's seat from the get go.

St. Cloud state did not get out to the best start in the third, as Minnesota-Crookston took advantage of uncharacteristic Husky errors to take an early 3-0 lead in the set. There was no reason for the team to panic, though, as St. Cloud State scored to cut the lead to 3-1 then tied things up at 4-4 thanks to three consecutive kills from senior outside Abby Templin (Cold Spring, Minn. / ROCORI). From there, the Huskies resumed their domination, winning 12 of the next 13 points to take a commanding 16-5 lead over the Golden Eagles.

St. Cloud State eventually took a 21-7 lead, which was when Minnesota-Crookston made things interesting. Slowly, the Golden Eagles chipped away at the Huskies lead, eventually pulling within four at 24-20. At that point, Rachel Houle (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) decided to take matters into her own hands, as her kill from the back row solidified the 25-20 win and the 3-0 sweep for the Huskies.

Rachel was the team's top offensive player, as she recorded 11 kills and did not commit a single error for a career-high hitting percentage of .611. Krenz, though, was the star of the night, as her team and match-leading 17 digs allowed her to break Stamer's record with nearly half of the 2019 season remaining. Additionally, the senior libero ended the match with two aces and three assists and helped St. Cloud State's defense hold the Minnesota-Crookston offense to a .036 hitting percentage.

With the win, St. Cloud State's overall record improves to 15-2, and the team is now 7-2 in NSIC play. The Huskies will return to action this weekend, as they hit the road to face Augustana University at 6 p.m. on Friday, October 18.