The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team went 0-3 and finished seventh place in the Crookston Pirate Invitational on Saturday at the Crookston High School Gymnasium.
CROOKSTON VS GOODRIDGE/GRGYLA
FIRST SET
Crookston got off to a very solid start in the beginning of the set, with great serving by Makenna Kopecky and an early kill by Carley Knutson. The lead was 6-4, one of the first multi-point leads for the Pirates this year, but then the Chargers went on a run. They delivered kills all over the court, and took advantage of some Pirate mistakes, to go on a 14-4 run and take an 18-10 lead. Crookston would not back away though, as two consecutive Mackenzie Funk kills and a serve receive error cut the score to 18-13, but the Chargers then put all the pieces together to end the set on a 6-1, taking the first set 25-14.
SECOND SET
Knutson began the second set with a kill, same as the first set, but this time Goodridge-Grygla went full throttle a lot quicker, and they capitalized on Pirate serve/receive errors and increased their net presence. After Crookston took a 2-1 lead, the Chargers responded with an 11-2 run to take a 12-4 lead. A Joey Nesseth ace stopped that run, but the Chargers were relentless, scoring the next 5 points to hold a 17-5 advantage. The Chargers then exploded, commanding nearly every point the rest of the way, going on an 8-3 run to finish. Abi Bruley was impressive, with a block and a kill in this stretch in just her second match upon being called up from JV, but the Chargers took the set 25-8, winning the two sets of play.
Despite the score not being what she wanted, Pirate Head Coach Katie Morgan knew her players wanted to be back out there. “I think the girls were just excited to hit the court after having the game on Thursday postponed.” Morgan was also proud of one thing that worked: the serve receive. “Our serve receive was probably the best I’ve seen all season so far” said Morgan, “we had a few too many unforced errors but I felt like our defense really stepped up.”
| 1 | 2 | |
| Goodridge/Grygla | 25 | 25 |
| Crookston | 14 | 8 |
For Crookston
Kills – Mackenzie Funk, Carley Knutson, Abi Bruley 2
Blocks – Abi Bruley 1
Digs – Emily Bowman 8, Mackenzie Funk 5
Assists – Makenna Kopecky, Rilynn Aubol 3
Aces – Makenna Kopecky 2 , Joey Nesseth 1
For Goodridge/Grygla
Kills – Makayla Erlandson, Chesney Salo 5
Blocks – none
Digs – Addison Severts 4, Kakylie Brobst 3
Assists – Chesney Salo 13
Aces – Makayla Erlandson 5, Addison Severts 3
CROOKSTON VS WARROAD
FIRST SET
The Warriors got off to an incredible start, scoring the first 8 points with the help of kills from Katy Comstock and Unity Gausen. Crookston then went on a 5-1 run with the help of serves from Makenna Kopecky and kills from Mackenzie Funk. Warroad then started to make some mistakes, and the lead was suddenly cut down to 2. Rilynn Aubol then blocked a ball to make it 13-12 Warriors. The lead then stayed at 1 until Warroad was able to extend it to 3, and were then able to capitalize on some Pirate errors to extend the lead to 5, at 18-13. A Danika Gustafson kill then cemented things for Warroad, as after the Pirates cut the lead to 15-13, the Warriors scored 10 unanswered points to take the first set, by a score of 25-13.
SECOND SET
A sensational effort by Emily Bowman started the second set off well for Crookston, and a Funk block made it 2-0. A serve-receive error made it 4-0 Crookston in the set. Gustafson finally gor the kill to get the Warriors on the board, and the lead stayed at 3 until a Kelby Knox kill made it 7-5 Pirates. The Warriors continued to push, tying the set at 7, and the set stayed tied until another Knox kill gave the Warriors the lead at 9-8. They would not ease up, going on a long run to extend the lead to 12-8. Crookston then cut the lead to 2, where it stood until the net presence of the Warriors took over, extending the lead to 16-10. The run didn’t stop there, as it got all the way to 21 before Aubol put a stop to it. At 21-11, Aubol recorded another block, but it wasn’t enough as the lead stayed at 10 until Crookston cut it to 23-15. Two errors ended the set at 25-15, with Warroad winning the two sets of play.
Due to the way the tournament was formatted, Crookston sat for nearly two hours after match 1’s conclusion before getting back out on the court, and Coach Morgan recognized that at the start of the match. “After sitting for two matches. it’s hard to get moving again so we came out a little too slow” said Morgan, “We let them go on too many long runs before we picked up our play.” However, once the play picked up, Morgan liked what she saw. “We started to see a lot more aggressiveness from our front row players” Morgan says, “We ended this match a little better than our first, which was great.”
| 1 | 2 | |
| Warroad | 25 | 25 |
| Crookston | 13 | 15 |
For Crookston
Kills – Mackenzie Funk 2, Naomi Johnson 2
Blocks – Rilynn Aubol 2
Digs – Joey Nesseth 7, Makenna Kopecky 7
Assists – Rilynn Aubol 6
Aces –Carley Knutson 1
CROOKSTON VS STEPHEN-ARGYLE
FIRST SET
The first set started with a Signe Svendsen kill, and she followed it up with a block. The Storm came out on fire, scoring the first four points lightning fast. Makenna Kopecky gave the Pirates their first point, but the Strom were relentless, as an Isabelle Westman kill made it 6-1. The lead stayed at 5 until the Storm took a 9-2 lead, and it stayed at 7 until some Pirate miscommunication made it 12-3. A Joey Nesseth ace cut the lead to 7, but the hyperaggressiveness of the Storm did not waver, as they built a 17-7 lead. The lead stayed at 10 until the end, where the Storm were able to pull away, taking the first set 25-13.
SECOND SET
At the start of the second set, Svendsen delivered another kill. Crookston made it 1-1, and both teams alternated points until a string of Pirate errors made it 8-4 Storm. The lead stayed at 4 until an Emily Marquis kill made it 11-5. A Nora Osowski service ace followed, and it all started to fall apart for the Pirates, as they trailed 13-5. The Storm kept scoring until 15-5, when an Abi Bruley kill stopped the run. The lead stayed at 10 until an Emily Bowman kill cut the lead to 7, at 17-10. Crookston kept the lead at 7, but the Storm upped their aggressiveness, and took a 20-11 lead. The lead then stayed consistent until the end, where a serve-receive error ended the set at 25-14, giving the win to the Storm.
Coach Morgan felt that the team was just a step or two behind in this match. “We started out too slow and seemed like we were never ready for the next play.” However, as has become tradition for most of these matches, later in the sets is when the better play began. “We started passing well and it kind of was a domino effect,” Morgan explains, ” as after that, we had a bunch of really good touches on blocks, and our hittersstarted to really find the court on the other side.”
Morgan said that overall there was much needed progress in some areas, and the need for progress in other areas. “Overall, I think our serve receive improved a lot from where we were” said Morgan, “We got a lot of good touches and blocks throughout the day…it’s been fun seeing improvements in our front row.” Morgan then shifted emphasis to what needed work. “We need to improve on reading and being ready for anything…we had too many plays where we were waiting for someone else to go instead of taking the initiative…we plan to watch some film this week and work on reading the other team.”
| 1 | 2 | |
| Stephen-Argyle | 25 | 25 |
| Crookston | 13 | 14 |
For Crookston
Kills – Mackenzie Funk, Joey Nesseth, Carley Knutson 2
Blocks – Mackenzie Funk 1
Digs – Emily Bowman 10, Lana Peterson 4
Assists – Makenna Kopecky 6
Aces – Rilynn Aubol, Mackenzie Funk, Joey Nesseth, Makenna Kopecky 1
For Stephen-Argyle
Kills – Signe Svendsen 6, Isabelle Westman 4
Blocks – Signe Svendsen 2
Digs- Jocelyn Groven 12, Nora Osowski 5
Assists – Nora Osowski 19
Aces – none
Crookston falls to 0-9 on the year and places 7th in the tournament.
MATCH SCORES
Goodridge 2 v Crookston 0 (25-15, 25-8)
Stephen Argyle 1 v Warroad 1 (25-17, 21-25)
Goodridge 2 v Stephen Argyle 0 (25-16, 25-13)
Warroad 2 v Crookston 0 (25-13, 25-15)
Goodridge 1 v Warroad 1 (16-25, 25-15)
Stephen Argyle 2 v Crookston 0 (25-13, 25-14)
Fisher-Climax 1 v Northome 2 (19-25, 28-26, 22-25)
Bagley 3 v Northome 0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-12)
Bagley 2 v Fisher Climax 1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-22)
1st Place – Bagley 2 Goodridge 0 (25-17, 25-21)
3rd Place – Northome 2 Warroad 1 (17-25, 25-12, 15-12)
5th Place – Climax Fisher 2 Stephen Argyle 1 (22-25, 25-10, 15-13)
