The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team started the match strong, but the East Grand Forks Green Wave proved to be too much as they cruised to a 3-0 (25-10, 25-4, 25-14) victory in a Section 8AA matchup played at the Crookston High School gymnasium.
FIRST SET
The teams came out strong with ties at 1, 2, and 3. East Grand Forks took a two-point lead after kills by Ava Kleinvachter and McKaylee Fitzpatrick for a 5-3 lead. Crookston battled back and trailed 9-7 after the Green Wave hit it into the net. “Overall, I was very happy with how the girls came out tonight,” said Pirate Coach Katie Morgan. “It was fun to see them fighting for the ball and fighting for every point.” East Grand Forks responded with three kills, two from Addison Kujawa and one from Emma Marcott, for a 12-7 lead. Crookston’s Rilynn Aubol ended the run with a kill before the Green Wave ended the set on a 13-2 run! Four different players had kills and there was one ace as East Grand Forks pulled away for a 25-10 first set victory. “We have to give to East Grand Forks because they are a very good team,” said Coach Morgan. “They got in their groove at the end of the set.”
SECOND SET
East Grand Forks started the second set like the finished the first, on a run. The Green Wave took advantage of two Crookston attack errors and followed that up with two Sara Christiansen service aces for a 4-0 lead. Crookston’s Mackenzie Funk stopped the run with a kill and after a Pirate hitting error, East Grand Forks hit out of bounds and the Pirates trailed 5-2. It was this point of the set that East Grand Forks dominated the rest of the way as they ended on a 20-2 run. EGF’s Fitzpatrick had five service aces, Laurel Kolstoe had two aces, and Taylor Bergh added one for eight aces out of the 20 points in the run. Five different players had a kill in the run and East Grand Forks coasted to a 25-4 victory in the second set to take a 2-0 lead. “They kept firing it at us and we couldn’t do anything with it,” said Coach Morgan. “We finally would get a pass, then our hitters weren’t ready and that is the story of the entire season….We can’t get everything all together.”
THIRD SET
Crookston was more competitive in the final set of the match. East Grand Forks started strong with a 4-1 lead after an Ellie Marcott ace. Crookston’s Funk stopped the run with a kill, and the Green Wave hit into the net, and the Pirates were within a 4-3 deficit. East Grand Forks built a 15-10 lead before they dominated the rest of the match. They ended the set on a 10-4 run, and the match ended with back-to-back kills from Brooke Heck for a 25-14 victory. “We didn’t give up, and it was fun to see the girls bounce back after a tough second set and finish the match strong,” said Coach Morgan. “It was fun to see some of our younger players play well against a very good team when they were out there. East Grand Forks is a great team, and we are going to cheer them on. It was fun to see them play with class and be very nice to us. Paula “Devine” is a classy coach and got some younger players in the match and they are very good players too.”
Crookston drops to 0-12 on the year and will play Red Lake County Central in Oklee on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in a makeup from earlier this season. East Grand Forks improves to 16-9 on the year and will host Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton in a big Section 8AA match on Monday.
J.V. – EGF won 2-0 C Squad – EGF won 2-1
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| East Grand Forks | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Crookston | 10 | 4 | 14 |
For Crookston
Kills – Mackenzie Funk – 4, Joey Nesseth -2, Madi Abrams – 2
Blocks – None
Digs – Joey Nesseth – 6, Emily Bowman – 6
Assists- Rilynn Aubol – 7
Aces –Rilynn Aubol – 1, Mackenzie Funk – 1
For East Grand Forks
Kills – McKaylee Fitzpatrick – 9, Addison Kujawa – 7, Ellie Marcott – 6, Ava Kleinvachter – 6
Blocks – Lainee Hams – 2
Digs – Sara Christianson – 9, Ellie Marcott – 6, Emma Marcott – 5
Assists – Emma Marcott – 29
Aces –McKaylee Fitzpatrick – 5, Sara Christiansen – 5
