The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team was at the mercy of the Fertile-Beltrami Falcon offense on Monday night, as they fell in three sets by a score of 25-11, 25-13, 25-19 at the Crookston High School Gymnasium.
FIRST SET
The Falcons took off flying to start the first set, scoring the first 5 points, helped by kills from Bailey Iverson and Madison Stueness. The Pirates responded, alternating points after a Brynna Kopecky kill, but the Falcons started to feed the outside hitters a lot more often. Tessa Opdahl delivered back-to-back kills to put the Falcons up 9-3, and that then catapulted a 6-2 run to go up 15-5. Out of a timeout, the run continued, as a Mya Erickson kill sparked an 8-3 run for the Falcons, putting them up 24-8. The Pirates scored three in a row to end the set, but the Falcons got the last laugh, taking the first set by a score of 25-11.
SECOND SET
The second set went virtually the same as the first; the Falcons did not get off to a 5-0 start, but after the set started out tied at 2, the Falcons went on a big-time 10-1 run to take a 12-3 lead. The Falcons had four players with over six kills, and did a wonderful job of sharing the wealth and keeping the Pirates off-balance. Abi Bruley looked to stop the run, recording back-to-back kills, but the Falcons pushed ahead to a 19-9 lead. Once the Falcons pushed the lead up to 24-10, the Pirates once again scored 3 straight points to cut into the lead before a Tessa Opdahl kill ended the set, giving the Falcons a 25-13 win, and a two sets to none advantage.
THIRD SET
The third set was completely different than the first two sets. Crookston got off to a much better start, getting a Jayde Uttermark kill and a Lana Peterson ace to jump ahead to a 3-2 lead, and they maintained a slim advantage up until it was 8-7. Then, both teams alternated 17 consecutive points, going back and forth all the way until the score became 16-16. Crookston had three blocks in that span, including two from Morgan Boll, in her first extended burst of varsity playing time this year. The Falcons, however, cut the back-and-forth with a late run, as they went on a 7-0 run, sparked by another Erickson kill. That would be the final dagger, as the Falcons held on to take the final set 25-19, winning the match in three sets.
Crookston drops to 1-7 on the season and will host RLCC on Thursday. Fertile-Beltrami improves to 7-2 on the season.
JV – FB won 2-0 (25-16, 25-12) C Squad – FB won 2-1 (18-25, 25-8, 15-12)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Crookston | 11 | 13 | 19 |
For Crookston
Kills – Brynna Kopecky, Jayde Uttermark 3
Blocks – Morgan Boll 2
Digs – Brynna Kopecky 7, Leia Parkin 4
Assists- Rilynn Aubol 9
Aces – Rilynn Aubol, Leia Parkin, Lana Peterson 1
For Fertile-Beltrami
Kills – Mya Erickson 9, Bailey Iverson, Tessa Opdahl 8
Blocks – Reese Bruggeman 2
Digs – Jordyn Rasch 9
Assists – Torri Groder, Bailey Iverson 14
Aces – Mya Erickson 4
