The Red Lake Falls Eagles are without two of their top hitters as Rowan Kennet and Grace Knutson are out for the season with knee injuries they suffered during the softball season last year and the girls keep making big improvement each match and they did it again on Tuesday night as they beat the Crookston Pirates 3-1 (25-17, 25-11, 23-25, 25-19) at the Robert Matzke gymnasium in Red Lake Falls.
FIRST SET
Crookston started the match by scoring the first two points with a kill from Rilynn Aubol. Red Lake Falls settled in and scored the next four points with an Aubrey Payment kill, a Crookston error, a Halle Seeger ace, and another Payment kill for a 4-2 lead. That is how the first set would go as Crookston would score a point or two, and Red Lake Falls answered with a much larger run. Crookston scored a point after a RLF error, but the Eagles answered with three straight points after three Pirate errors for a 7-3 lead. Red Lake Falls slowly built a 19-7 lead behind a bunch of Crookston errors and Eagle kills from Payment and Presley Ellefson. Crookston’s Cecelia Newquist had back-to-back kills before Payment took over the set and the Eagles won 25-17.
SECOND SET
Red Lake Falls took a 5-1 lead behind four Crookston errors. A Red Lake Falls serve went into the net, and they also hit out of bounds, and Crookston was within a 5-3 deficit. Red Lake Falls rattled off a 14-1 run behind two kills by Amelia Warne, single kills from Ellefson and Schindler, along with a service ace from Brooklyn Gagner. The rest of the points came on Crookston errors, and Red Lake Falls led 19-4. Crookston’s Brynna Kopecky had a block, the Eagles were called for four hits, and Newquist had a kill, and the Pirates trailed 19-7. Red Lake Falls led 21-10 when Crookston was in the net, Payment had two kills and the teams exchanged a point as the Eagles won the set 25-11 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
THIRD SET
The teams were tied at 1, 2, and 3 before Crookston took the lead on a pair of Morgan Boll blocks for a 5-3 lead. Crookston built an 8-4 lead before Red Lake Falls battled back to tie the set at 9 behind a Halle Seeger kill, a Schindler ace, and a Payment kill. The teams were tied at 5, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21. Crookston’s Kopecky had back-to-back kills and a Keatyn Kliner ace for a 24-21 lead. Red Lake Falls had two straight points before Crookston finished the set with a 25-23 victory to force a fourth set.
FOURTH SET-
The teams were tied at one and two before Red Lake Falls took the lead on a bad Crookston pass and a Brooklyn Gagner kill for a 4-2 lead. The teams exchanged points for a while, and the Eagles led 11-9 when Halle Seeger had a kill, Payment had a block for a kill, and Crookston made a bad pass, giving the Eagles a 14-9 lead. Crookston battled back to get within a 15-13 deficit after a Boll kill. Red Lake Falls blew the set open with a 6-0 run sparked by an Ella Breiland ace, followed by kills from Amelia Warne and Payment, mixed in with Crookston errors, for a 21-13 lead. Boll had a kill to get Crookston on a run thanks to several Eagle hitting errors, and the Pirates trailed 23-18. Boll had another kill before Ellefson had a kill, and Crookston had an attack go out of bounds as the Eagles won the set 25-19 to win the match 3-1.
Crookston drops to 1-2 on the year and will host Sacred Heart on Thursday. Red Lake Falls improves to 2-1 on the year and will take on Warren-Alvarado-Oslo on Thursday.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Crookston | 17 | 11 | 25 | 19 |
| Red Lake Falls | 25 | 25 | 23 | 25 |
For Crookston
Kills – Morgan Boll 9, Abi Bruley 7, Cecelia Newquist 7
Blocks – Rilynn Aubol 3, Brynna Kopecky 2
Digs – Brynna Kopecky 17, Keatyn Kliner 14, Ella Anderson 12
Assists- Keatyn Kliner 18, Rilynn Aubol 6
Aces – Keatyn Kliner 2
For Red Lake Falls
Kills – Aubree Payment 14, Halle Seeger 6, Brooklyn Gagner 5
Blocks – Aubree Payment 1, Ella Breiand 1
Digs – Layna Schindler 37, Ella Breiland 21, Halle Seeger 20
Assists- Halle Seeger 15, Brooklyn Seeger 13
Aces –Ava Seeger 3, Ella Breiland 2, Brooklyn Gagner 2, Halle Seeger 2
