The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team traveled to Twin Valley on Monday night to take on the Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal (NCE/U-H) Titans. It was all Titans as they cruised to a three set win (25-17, 25-15, 25-14) in a match that lasted less than an hour.
First Set
The Titans came out strong claiming an early 9-3 lead. Crookston rebounded strong and would score the next four points capped off by an Anna Funk kill. The Titans would then go on a 3-0 run to extend the lead before Crookston would score six straight points taking their first lead of the set at 13-12. The run was highlighted by back-to-back kills by Grace Fischer. The two teams then traded points for a bit with Libby Salentine serving up an ace to tie the set at 16-16 and force a Titans timeout. Unfortunately for the Pirates, NCE/U-H would finish the set strong scoring six straight and ending the set on a 9-1 run to claim it 25-17 and take an early lead in the match.
Second Set
It was all Titans early in the second set, as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead. They would slowly build their lead from there until they were in front 13-4. Crookston wouldn’t go away and would go on a 5-0 run of their own to pull back within four points at 13-9. The run was highlighted by strong play at the net and a few NCE/U-H mistakes. After an NCE/U-H point, Crookston would score three more in a row and force a Titans timeout with the deficit cut down to 14-12. That would be as close as the Pirates would get, as the Titans would also end the second set on a nice 11-3 run, and go on to win it 25-15 to take a 2-0 lead into the third set.
Third Set
The Titans never faced much resistance in the final set, soaring out to an early lead and never looking back. Crookston fought a little towards the end with the highlight being two aces from Anna Funk, but it wasn’t enough, and the Titans would wrap things up with a 25-14 third set win, to win the match in three sets.
Crookston drops to 2-18 on the year and will be back in action tomorrow night when they travel to play the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies. The match will begin at 7:15 p.m. and you can hear it on KROX starting with the RiverView Health prematch show at 6:45 p.m. NCE/U-H improves to 8-8 with the win.
FOR PIRATES COACH KATIE ENGELSTAD’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
Audio Player
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| CROOKSTON | 17 | 15 | 14 |
| NCE-U/H | 25 | 25 | 25 |
For CROOKSTON
Kills – Anna Funk, Grace Fischer, Emilee Tate- (4 each)
Blocks – NONE
Digs – Dani Kresl- (7), Anna Funk- (3)
Assists – Libby Salentine- (15)
Aces – Anna Funk- (2), Libby Salentine- (1)
For NCE/U-H (UNOFFICIAL)
Kills – Izzy Klemetson- (9), Elise Tweten- (8), Jocelyn Braseth- (4)
Blocks – Brenna Olson- (2), Izzy Klemetson, Allison Groth- (1 each)
Digs – Raegan Oberg- (16), Sophia Lien- (6)
Assists – Sophia Lien- (13), Payton Haspel- (3)
Aces – Elise Tweten- (2), Sophia Lien, Payton Haspel- (1 each)
