CROOKSTON PIRATE VOLLEYBALL GETS FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON AT WARREN-ALVARADO-OSLO TOURNAMENT

The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team competed in the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Tournament today. The Pirates won their first match of the year and went 1-2 in Pool Play before losing to Mahnomen-Waubun in their final match of the day, for a record of 1-3. Seven teams competed in the tournament. “Overall it was a rollercoaster kind of day for us,” said Crookston Pirates coach Katie Engelstad. “I think we learned that when we communicate and have a lot of energy we can play well. A big thing for us moving forward from this will be focusing in on not having any unforced errors.”

CROOKSTON vs WARREN-ALVARADO-OSLO –

First Set
The Pirates first match of the day was at 9:00 a.m. against Warren-Alvarado-Oslo. In order to keep the matches and day moving along, all pool play matches were only two sets. “We tried to get the girls as awake as we could but I think both teams were a little asleep throughout the first set,” said coach Engelstad. “I will say I was pleased with our bench in this match, they did a good job of bringing energy and cheering everyone on.” The first set was a close one, but Warren-Alvarado-Oslo would prevail winning the set 25-22.

Second Set
In the second set, it was a little bit different, as the Ponies took care of the Pirates 25-16 thanks to some mistakes of Crookston. “We kind of used this match to help move us forward the rest of the day and get us going,” said coach Engelstad. That meant the Ponies would move to 1-0 on the day with a two set win, while the Pirates would fall to 0-1 in pool play.

	1	2
CROOKSTON	22	16
W-A-O	25	25

 

 

CROOKSTON vs CLEARBROOK-GONVICK –

First Set
The Pirates would finally break through and get their first win of the season against Clearbrook-Gonvick in a thrilling victory. The Pirates came out immediately making a statement winning the first set 25-17, meaning they would only need to score at least 18 points in the second set in order to win the match as they would have the tiebreaker.

Second Set
Ironically, in the second set, Clearbrook-Gonvick would beat the Pirates 25-17, meaning the two teams had each scored 42 points through the first two sets. “We would’ve actually only played two sets no matter what but our scores were the exact same so we ended up needing to play a quick third set tie-breaker,” said coach Engelstad.

	1	2	3
CROOKSTON	25	17	5
Clearbrook-Gonvick	17	25	4

 

 

CROOKSTON vs ROTHSAY –

First Set
In the Pirates final match of pool play, they would play Rothsay. Rothsay would handle Crookston in the first set 25-16. “We knew this match was going to probably be our toughest in pool play,” said coach Engelstad. “We were a little bit tired as it was our third match of the day and I think that affected our play a little bit.”

Second Set
In the second set, it was much of the same as Rothsay would win the set 25-14 for a straight set win 2-0. “I think there were times where we played pretty well in this match,” said coach Engelstad. “We would be playing pretty well but then we would make some silly mistakes and that would put us in bad spots. It was kind of a rollercoaster of a match for us.” With the loss, the Pirates had finished pool play and would end the day with one more match against Mahnomen-Waubun.

 

	1	2
CROOKSTON	16	14
Rothsay	25	25

 

For CROOKSTON
Kills – Anna Funk- (3), L. Salentine, Brianna Wardner, Dani Kresl, MaKenzie Funk- (2 each)
Blocks – NONE
Digs – Hannah Brouse- (7), Anna Funk- (6), Dani Kresl- (5)
Assists – Libby Salentine- (5)
Aces – Lorelai Hebert- (1)

 

CROOKSTON vs MAHNOMEN-WAUBUN –

First Set
In the Pirates final match of the day, they would have a hard-fought loss in the opening set to Mahnomen-Waubun. “This match was a lot like our one against Rothsay,” said coach Engelstad. “We would do things well at times but too many mistakes ultimately hurt us. I think we had six missed serves and you just can’t do that.”

Second Set
Crookston would be on the upside in the second set of the match and come out thumping Mahnomen-Waubun 25-17 to force a third set. “It was a nice turnaround for us in the second set and we didn’t commit as many mistakes,” said coach Engelstad. “I don’t think we had any missed serves in this set and that makes a big difference.”

Third Set
With it being the last match of the day, the teams would play one final set up to fifteen. The two teams competed hard and went back and forth, but Mahnomen-Waubun would win the third set 15-10, handing the Pirates another loss. “All in all it was a really fun match,” said coach Engelstad. “The girls wanted to play them again after we had lost to them earlier this year and it was fun to watch them play. We just couldn’t quite get it done.”

Crookston is now 1-9 on the season and will be back in action on Monday night when they travel to take on the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons. We will have the match on KROX starting with the RiverView Health prematch show at 6:45 p.m., with the first serve taking place at 7:15 p.m.

	1	2	3
CROOKSTON	23	25	10
Mahnomen-Waubun	25	17	15

 

For CROOKSTON
Kills – Libby Salentine- (5), Anna Funk- (4)
Blocks – NONE
Digs – Dani Kresl- (10), Lorelai Hebert- (5)
Assists – Libby Salentine- (5), Anna Funk- (4)
Aces – Dani Kresl, Hannah Brouse, Libby Salentine- (1 each)