The Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal trailed 13-9 in the fifth set, but scored the next six points to beat the Crookston Pirate Volleyball team 15-13 in the fifth set to win the match 3-2 (25-15, 25-21, 22-25, 18-25, 15-13) at the Crookston High School gymnasium.
FIRST SET
The teams were tied at 1 and 3 before NCE/UH went on a 5-0 run after three Pirate hitting errors and a pair of kills from Tess Anderson for an 8-3 lead. Abigail Bruley stopped the run with a kill before a Titan serve went out of bounds. Bruley had another kill to get within a 9-5 deficit. Crookston continued to scratch back and got within an 11-9 deficit after a Morgan Boll kill. NCE/UH answered with a 7-2 run for an 18-11 lead. The Titans continued to pull away and won the set 25-15.
SECOND SET
The second set also had ties at 1 and 3 before NCE/UH scored four straight points behind three Crookston hitting errors and a Tessa Anderson kill for a 7-3 lead. The Titans continued to build on their lead, taking a 23-14 advantage. Crookston finished the set strong as Cecelia Newquist and Jayde Uttermark had kills. Mixed in with a couple of Titan errors and an Ella Anderson kill to get within a 23-20 deficit. NCE/UH held on for a 25-21 victory to take a 2-0 lead.
THIRD SET
Crookston had a great start to the third set as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind a pair of kills from Brynna Kopecky. After a Titan point, the Pirates scored five more points behind kills from Kopecky, Rilynn Aubol, and Lyla Oman for a 9-1 lead. NCE/UH battled back and tied the set at 11. Crookston’s Morgan Boll stopped the run with a kill as the teams were tied at 12, 14, and 20. Boll gave the Pirates the lead with two kills, and Crookston won the set 25-22 to force a fourth set.
FOURTH SET
NCE/UH jumped out to a 3-0 lead with an Anderson kill, a Crookston error, and a Katie Syverson block. Crookston responded with two Newquist kills and a Titan error for a 3-3 tie. The teams were tied at 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 14 before Newquist had a block, which was followed by a kill for a 16-14 lead. A few points later, Newquist had an ace, and the Titans had an attack error, and the Pirates led 19-15. After Crookston served out of bounds, Oman had a kill. The Titans’ Anderson had a kill and an ace before Oman had another kill, which was followed by a Boll kill for a 22-18 lead. Crookston scored two more points on TItan errors before the Pirates’ Boll had a block to win the set 25-18 to force a fifth set.
FIFTH SET
Crookston jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Rilynn Aubol started the set with a kill. After a Titan error, and a Titan kill, Newquist had a kill, and the Titans hit into the net for a 4-1 lead. NCE/UH battled back to tie the set at 6 when Crookston was called for four hits. The Pirates regained the lead on a Titan error and a Lana Peterson ace. The Titans had an attack error before Boll had a block to give Crookston a 10-6 lead. The Titans got within an 11-9 deficit before Aubol and Kopecky had kills for a 13-9 lead, and things were looking good for Crookston. Crookston had two attack errors before the Titans’ Syverson had a kill. Crookston hit out of bounds before Tessa Anderson had a kill to give the Titans a 14-13 lead, and they were serving for match point. The Titans barely got the ball over the net, and it came between the Pirate blocker and the net. The Titans won the set 15-13, and the match 3-2.
Crookston drops to 1-5 on the year and will travel to Fertile to take on the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons on Monday. You can hear the match on KROX Radio. Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal improves to 2-5-1 on the year.
J.V. – Crookston won 2-0 C-squad – Crookston won 2-0
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| NCE/UH | 25 | 25 | 22 | 18 | 15 |
| Crookston | 15 | 21 | 25 | 25 | 13 |
For Crookston
Kills – Cecelia Newquist 10, Brynna Kopecky 8, Mogran Boll 7, Lyla Oman 6
Blocks- Morgan Boll 2
Digs – Ella Anderson 18, Keatyn Kliner 15, Brynna Kopecky 12
Assists- Keatyn Kliner 19
Aces – Morgan Boll 2
