The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team had one of their better matches of the season, but the East Grand Forks Green Wave’s netplay was too much in a 3-1 (25-16, 16-25, 25-14, 25-22) in a match played at the Crookston High School gymnasium. “I think we did some pretty good things and limited our errors as much as we could,” said Pirate Coach Ashley Stopa. “East Grand Forks made some big plays and outlasted us tonight.”
SET ONE –
Crookston trailed 2-1 to start the match before Allie Love, and Emma Boll had kills for a 3-2 Pirate lead. East Grand Forks battled back to tie the set at 5, 6, and 9 and held a 13-12 lead before they went on a 5-0 run behind two kills apiece from Jessie Helgeland and Kendra Emery for an 18-12 lead. “That was the difference, and they capitalized on our blocks,” said Coach Stopa. The Green Wave continued to roll the rest of the set and won 25-16 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. “I thought our setting was good, and our serve receive was good, but East Grand Forks finished strong.”
SET TWO –
Crookston jumped out to a 3-1 lead with an Amelia Overgaard ace and an Allie Love kill. After an East Grand Forks point, Crookston went on an 8-0 run with an ace and two kills from Jasmin Hanson. Love and Kasey Cwikla also added kills on the run, and the Pirates led 11-2. “I think that is our longest run of the season,” said Coach Stopa. “We played well, and we were communicating and moving, but we have a tendency of letting teams back in, and we reminded them of it.” East Grand Forks slowly closed the deficit and got within a 16-13 deficit when the Wave hit into the net, and Overgaard followed with a couple of aces over a four-point span, and Crookston led 21-13. Crookston finished off the set with a Hanson block for a kill to win the set 25-16 to tie the match at 1-1. “We were battling back and forth and made some nice plays and didn’t have many errors,” said Coach Stopa. “We haven’t been on the winning side often this year, so that was nice.”
SET THREE –
Any momentum that Crookston had going into the third set was quickly squashed with a 9-2 run by East Grand Forks to start the third set. “That wasn’t exactly what we are hoping for,” said Coach Stopa. “We started to get a little tired and stopped communicating, and that hurt us. East Grand Forks did a good job of adjusting.” Jasmin Hanson stopped the Green Wave run with back-to-back kills to get within a 9-4 deficit. East Grand Forks dominated the rest of the set and cruised to a 25-14 victory to take a 2-1 lead.
SET FOUR –
Crookston had a great start in the fourth set, going on a 6-1 run sparked by two Overgaard aces. “Amelia (Overgaard) has been working on her jump serving, and she had some nice serves,” said Coach Stopa. “It was a good start and nice to see the girls come out strong.” East Grand Forks battled back to tie the set at 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 21, and 22. East Grand Forks took the lead for good with a Kendra Emery kill, followed by an acre from Kasumi Lee, and the match was won on a Helgeland kill for a 25-22 victory to win the match 3-1. “Mallorie Sundeen played her best match of the year and did an outstanding job tonight,” said Coach Stopa. “I thought we were a little reserved at the end and tried not to make the error instead of getting after it. We will work on that, but I thought our defense was good tonight, and the girls are hungry.”
Crookston drops to 2-17 on the year and will host Warren-Alvarado-Oslo on Tuesday. East Grand Forks improves to 7-16 on the year.
J.V. – Crookston won 2-1 C Squad – East Grand Forks won 2-1
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| East Grand Forks | 25 | 16 | 25 | 25 |
| Crookston | 16 | 25 | 14 | 22 |
For Crookston
Kills – Kasey Cwikla – 9, Jasmin Hanson – 9
Blocks – Kasey Cwikla – 1, Jasmin Hanson – 1, Allie Love – 1
Assists – Emily Funk – 11, Amelia Overgaard – 9
Digs – Dani Boyle – 23, Emma Boll – 7
Aces – Amelia Overgaard – 5
For East Grand Forks
Kills –Kendra Emery – 14, Jessie Helgeland – 11
Blocks – Halle Carpenter – 3, Jessie Helgeland – 2
Digs – Kasumi Lee – 25, Ella Eggers – 21, Kylie Stauss – 16
Aces – Kasumi Lee – 3, Kylie Stauss – 2, Jessie Helgeland – 2
