The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team fell to the Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal Titans 3-1 in a non-Section match played in the Twin Valley High School Gymnasium in Twin Valley.
In the first set, Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal jumped out to a 5-1 lead before Rachel Hefta picked up a kill for the Pirates followed by a Katelynn Genereux kill to pull Crookston within 5-3. The Titans countered with a six-point run to take a 9-3 lead. The Pirates responded with two-straight points followed by a Rachel Hefta ace to close the gap to 9-6. Crookston continued its scoring streak with a Rylee Solheim kill, an NCE/UH attacking error, Kylie Solheim ace, and Sydney Anderson blocks tying the first set at 10-10. The Titans took three of the next four points to take a 13-11 lead before the Pirates took five straight points including an Emma Boll ace and Kasey Cwikla block giving Crookston a 15-13 lead. The two sides traded points until with the match tied at 22-22 the Titans committed an attacking error, Hailey Seaver tallied an ace and Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal committed one last error as Crookston took a 25-22 lead. “We did good in that first set,” said Crookston head coach Ashley Stopa. “I could see that we were tired and a little sluggish. (Hailey) Seaver did an amazing job of being up and being ready.”
In the second set, the Titans took a quick 4-0 lead. A service error and subsequent service ace by Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal gave the hosts a 7-2 lead. Crookston failed to close the gap in the second set as the Titans took set two 25-15. “We were tired, we weren’t beating the ball to the spot we were letting the ball decide where we’re going to ball and that’s not going to work against quick down-ball serving.”
The third set proved to be the most competitive of the night. Crookston took the first three points including a Rachel Hefta kill and Katelynn Genereux ace. The lead grew to 5-1 after Rachel Hefta notched another one of her fourteen kills followed by a service ace. Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal took the next four points tying the set at 5-5. A Hailey Seaver kill regained the lead for the Pirates before the two sides traded points. Crookston began to take control of the set leading 10-9 when an opposing attacking error followed by two-straight Rachel Hefta kills and a Rylee Solheim ace gave the Pirates a 14-9 lead. Later two more Hefta kills pushed the visitor’s lead to 16-10. “(Rachel Hefta) is a really smart player,” noted Stopa. “She knows when we need it when to keep it on when to swing and she does a good job seeing the other side of the court and figuring out what we need to do differently. She’s a pretty good person to go to in the clutch.” Facing a 19-14 deficit, Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal rallied for four straight points to pull within 19-18. Later in the set, Kasey Cwikla picked up a crucial kill to give the Pirates a 22-20 lead. However, the Titans took the next three points to claim a 23-22 lead. With Crookston trailing 24-23, a Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal attacking error leveled the set at 24-24, but the Titans’ Brianna Thompson spiked two straight kills past the Crookston back line to secure the third set for Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal 26-24. “That was mental toughness, they were really tired, we tried to battle back, we changed somethings and threw a different defense out there to try and see what happens,” added Stopa.
The match appeared destined for a fifth set tie-breaker when Crookston screamed out to a 12-7 lead in the fourth set forcing a Titans’ timeout. Out of the timeout, Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal took control of the match winning nine-straight point to take a 16-12 lead. Later in the set, Danielle Boyle provided Crookston with a kill and an ace to pull the Pirates within 22-19, but it would not be enough as an Emily Theis ace was followed by a Crookston attacking error giving the Titans a 25-20 fourth set victory also securing a 3-1 match win for Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal.
“They did a good job to keep fighting,” summarized Ashley Stopa. “I’m not sure what happened. I think we got tired at the end. We were battling a few things, so some adversity came up on our side, we tried to move some line-ups around to keep kids and get them all up and ready to go.”
Crookston falls to 2-4 this season. The Pirates return to the court on Tuesday when they host the Thief River Falls Prowlers at 7:30 p.m. with the Riverview Health Pregame show beginning at 7 p.m. on KROX. The Titans improve to 2-1.
Kylie Solheim with a set Rachel Hefta serves for the Pirates
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| CROOKSTON | 25 | 15 | 24 | 20 |
| NCE/UH | 22 | 25 | 26 | 25 |
Sydney Anderson with an attack
For Crookston
Kills – Rachel Hefta- 14, Hailey Seaver- 7
Blocks – Rachel Hefta- 2
Assists – Kylie Solheim- 23
Digs – Danielle Boyle- 8, Katelynn Genereux- 8
Aces – Rachel Hefta- 3, Emma Boll- 2
For NCE/UH
Kills – Alivia Mortenson – 14, Brianna Thompson- 13, Corie Peterick – 13
Blocks – Alivia Mortenson – 1, Brianna Thompson – 1
Assists – Emily Theis – 9, Ryah Opsahl – 7
Digs – Corie Peterick – 35 Ryah Opsahl – 34, Alivia Mortenson- 32
Aces – Brianna Thompson- 2, Emily Theis – 2
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