The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team had been off for nine days and although they enjoyed being back on the court it didn’t go their way as the Warroad Warriors take the match in three sets (25-10, 25-10, 25-16) in a Section 8AA matchup at Crookston High School.
Crookston falls to 0-11 on the year, while Warroad improves to 4-15 on the season.
FIRST SET
The first set kicked off with a serve into the net by Warroad. The Pirates held that 1 point lead until another error tied the match at 5. 4 of the Pirates’ first 5 points came off of service errors. But, Warroad then got massive kills to take an 8-5 lead. That lead stayed at 3 until a Reagan Haley kill made it 12-6 Warriors. Warroad continued to push, capitalizing on Pirate mistakes to go up 16-6. They got all the way to 18-6, a 13-1 run. Crookston tried to fight back, cutting the lead to 10, but once the score got to 18-8, Warroad went all out, scoring 7 of the last 9 points and capitalizing on Pirate errors to take the first set in dominating fashion, 25-10.
SECOND SET
Opening the second set was a kill attempt too long, granting the Pirates the point. Crookston ended up scoring the first 3 points before a Danika Gustafson kill made it 3-1. Warroad then made it 3-3, and then continued their run, scoring 5 in a row to go up 5-3. Crookston cut the lead to 6-5, and the lead stayed at 1 until back-to-back serve receive errors made it 10-6 Warroad. The Warriors then continued to extend the lead, all the way to 14-6 before an Abi Bruley kill stopped it. Warroad, though, continued their surge, going on a 5-1 run to make it 19-8. Unfortunately for the Pirates, the lead just continued to grow, and eventually, a Danika Gustafson kill won the second set also at 25-10, giving the Warriors a 2-0 set lead.
THIRD SET
At the start of the third set, Warroad scored the first point before Crookston scored the next two. The lead then stayed at 1 until a Rilynn Aubol block made it 7-4 Pirates. A Gustafson kill ended the Pirates’ 5-0 run. An Addie Olafson kill made it 7-7, and an ace gave Warroad their own 5-0 run, at 9-7. Crookston cut the lead to 10-9, and an Aubol ace tied it at 10. The lead stayed tied until an Aaliyah Jackson ace made it 14-11 Warroad. The Pirate passing then went wary, making the score 17-12, and then Warroad hit the turbo again, ending the match on an 8-4 run to, take the final set 25-16, winning the match in 3 sets.
Coach Katie Morgan lamented on the team’s struggles to stay at 100% throughout the entire match. “We came out on fire and ready to play, and as the match went on we slowly started to lose it.” When asked about the match this upcoming Thursday, Morgan talked about practice tomorrow. “We’re going to try a lot of things, move some things around… just try. Try what we can.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Warroad | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Crookston | 10 | 10 | 16 |
For Warroad
Kills – Addie Olafson 9, Danika Gustafson 8
Blocks – Addie Olafson 1
Digs – Katy Comstock 11, Kelby Knox 10
Assists- Unity Gausen 28
Aces – Pyra Fleck 6
For Crookston
Kills – Joey Nesseth 4, Abi Bruley 3
Blocks – Rilynn Aubol 1
Digs – Emily Bowman 7, Mackenzie Funk 6
Assists – Makenna Kopecky, Rilynn Aubol 5
Aces –Mackenzie Funk, Makenna Kopecky, Rilynn Aubol 1
