The Crookston Pirates Volleyball team traveled to Waubun on Tuesday night for a match against the Mahnomen-Waubun Thunderbirds. The first set was close, but the Thunderbirds slowly overpowered the Pirates, winning the match in three sets (25-20, 25-12, 25-11).
First Set
Mahnomen-Waubun got off to a great start taking a 5-1 lead thanks to a few Pirates mistakes. Crookston would counter and fight back into the set early on making it 8-5 Thunderbirds after a kill from Mackenzie Funk. Mahnomen-Waubun would slowly start to build a lead by their getting their outside hitters involved frequently, and the next thing the Pirates knew, it was 24-16 with a set point on the line. Crookston would get four straight points including an ace from Libby Salentine to make it interesting, but Mahnomen-Waubun would finally end the set with a kill, winning it 25-20 and taking a 1-0 lead in the match. Mahnomen-Waubun did not trail in the opening set.
Second Set
The second set was much more even right from the start, with the teams trading points before Mahnomen-Waubun finally was able to rattle off a run to take a 14-9 lead and force a Pirates timeout. Even though it was even early, the Thunderbirds would pull away late, as they were too much for the Pirates to handle. Mahnomen-Waubun would get three more points before the Pirates stopped the bleeding, and then four more after that to pull ahead 21-10. Crookston never got closer, losing the set 25-12, and giving the Thunderbirds the opportunity to close the match out in the third set.
Third Set
Crookston got an early lead at 2-1 in the third set thanks to a kill from Anna Funk, but Mahnomen-Waubun would take the lead from there and never look back. The Thunderbirds continued to make the routine play, and force Crookston into some mistakes, and they would rattle off sixteen of the next twenty-one points to force a Crookston timeout with a 17-7 lead. Crookston would show a little fight at the end of the match, including two kills from Brianna Wardner, but the Thunderbirds would eventually close the match out, winning the third set 25-11.
Crookston falls to 0-2 on the season and will host their home opener on Thursday against Ada-Borup/West. The match will start at 7:30 p.m. and the game can be seen on the KROX Live Stream starting at 7:00 p.m. Mahnomen-Waubun improves to 1-1 on the year with the win.
FOR PIRATES COACH KATIE ENGELSTAD’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| CROOKSTON | 20 | 12 | 11 |
| Mahnomen-Waubun | 25 | 25 | 25 |
For CROOKSTON
Kills – Libby Salentine- (3), Brianna Wardner, Anna Funk, Grace Fischer- (2 each)
Blocks – NONE
Digs – Dani Kresl- (12) Hannah Brouse- (10)
Assists – Libby Salentine- (6), Anna Funk- (3)
Aces – Libby Salentine- (2), Anna Funk- (1)
For Mahnomen-Waubun
Kills – Kendra Syverson- (9), Cady Clark- (6), Olivia Ruschmeier- (3)
Blocks – Roni Keezer- (2) Kendra Syverson- (1)
Digs – Alaina Bevins- (9), Leah Hlubek- (4)
Assists – Cady Clark- (10), Alaina Bevins- (5), Kendra Syverson- (3)
Aces – Cady Clark- (3), Leah Hlubek, Alaina Bevins- (2 each)
