The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team is hosting the Crookston Invitational, with six other teams competing at the Crookston High School gym on Saturday.
Also competing are Bagley, Fisher-Climax, Goodridge/Grygla, Northome-Kelliher, Stephen-Argyle, and Warroad.
Crookston is 0-6 on the year and looking for its first win of the season. All eight teams will play three pool play matches (two set matches) followed by one tournament game (three set match).
CROOKSTON VS GOODRIDGE/GRGYLA
FIRST SET
Crookston got off to a very solid start in the beginning of the set, with great serving by Makenna Kopecky and an early kill by Carley Knutson. The lead was 6-4, one of the first multi-point leads for the Pirates this year, but then the Chargers went on a run. They delivered kills all over the court, and took advantage of some Pirate mistakes, to go on a 14-4 run and take an 18-10 lead. Crookston would not back away though, as two consecutive Mackenzie Funk kills and a serve receive error cut the score to 18-13, but the Chargers then put all the pieces together to end the set on a 6-1, taking the first set 25-14.
SECOND SET
Knutson began the second set with a kill, same as the first set, but this time Goodridge-Grygla went full throttle a lot quicker, and they capitalized on Pirate serve/receive errors and increased their net presence. After Crookston took a 2-1 lead, the Chargers responded with an 11-2 run to take a 12-4 lead. A Joey Nesseth ace stopped that run, but the Chargers were relentless, scoring the next 5 points to hold a 17-5 advantage. The Chargers then exploded, commanding nearly every point the rest of the way, going on an 8-3 run to finish. Abi Bruley was impressive, with a block and a kill in this stretch in just her second match upon being called up from JV, but the Chargers took the set 25-8, winning the two sets of play.
| 1 | 2 | |
| Goodridge/Grygla | 25 | 25 |
| Crookston | 14 | 8 |
For Crookston
Kills – Mackenzie Funk, Carley Knutson, Abi Bruley 2
Blocks – Abi Bruley 1
Digs – Emily Bowman 8, Mackenzie Funk 5
Assists – Makenna Kopecky, Rilynn Aubol 3
Aces – Makenna Kopecky 2 , Joey Nesseth 1
For Goodridge/Grygla
Kills – Makayla Erlandson, Chesney Salo 5
Blocks – none
Digs – Addison Severts 4, Kakylie Brobst 3
Assists – Chesney Salo 13
Aces – Makayla Erlandson 5, Addison Severts 3
CROOKSTON VS WARROAD
FIRST SET
The Warriors got off to an incredible start, scoring the first 8 points with the help of kills from Katy Comstock and Unity Gausen. Crookston then went on a 5-1 run with the help of serves from Makenna Kopecky and kills from Mackenzie Funk. Warroad then started to make some mistakes, and the lead was suddenly cut down to 2. Rilynn Aubol then blocked a ball to make it 13-12 Warriors. The lead then stayed at 1 until Warroad was able to extend it to 3, and were then able to capitalize on some Pirate errors to extend the lead to 5, at 18-13. A Danika Gustafson kill then cemented things for Warroad, as after the Pirates cut the lead to 15-13, the Warriors scored 10 unanswered points to take the first set, by a score of 25-13.
SECOND SET
A sensational effort by Emily Bowman started the second set off well for Crookston, and a Funk block made it 2-0. A serve-receive error made it 4-0 Crookston in the set. Gustafson finally gor the kill to get the Warriors on the board, and the lead stayed at 3 until a Kelby Knox kill made it 7-5 Pirates. The Warriors continued to push, tying the set at 7, and the set stayed tied until another Knox kill gave the Warriors the lead at 9-8. They would not ease up, going on a long run to extend the lead to 12-8. Crookston then cut the lead to 2, where it stood until the net presence of the Warriors took over, extending the lead to 16-10. The run didn’t stop there, as it got all the way to 21 before Aubol put a stop to it. At 21-11, Aubol recorded another block, but it wasn’t enough as the lead stayed at 10 until Crookston cut it to 23-15. Two errors ended the set at 25-15, with Warroad winning the two sets of play.
| 1 | 2 | |
| Warroad | 25 | 25 |
| Crookston | 13 | 15 |
For Crookston
Kills – Mackenzie Funk 4, Joey Nesseth, Carley Knutson 2
Blocks – Rilynn Aubol 2
Digs – Emily Bowman 11
Assists – Makenna Kopecky 7
Aces –Makenna Kopecky 1
CROOKSTON VS STEPHEN-ARGYLE
FIRST SET
The first set started with
SECOND SET
At the start of the second set,
| 1 | 2 | |
| Stephen-Argyle | ||
| Crookston |
For Crookston
Kills –
Blocks –
Digs –
Assists –
Aces –
For Stephen-Argyle
Kills –
Blocks –
Digs-
Assists –
Aces –
CROOKSTON VS TBD
FIRST SET
SECOND SET
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| TBD | |||
| Crookston |
For Crookston
Kills –
Blocks –
Digs –
Assists –
Aces –
For TBD
Kills –
Blocks –
Digs –
Assists –
Aces –
