The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team played their best set of the season, but ran out of gas as the Thief River Falls Prowler pulled away for a 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-14) victory in a Section 8AA matchup played in Thief River Falls.
FIRST SET
The c-squad and J.V. matches got done early, but Thief River Falls didn’t start the varsity match for 45 minutes after the junior varsity match was over, but that didn’t stop the Pirates from coming out aggressive and ready to play.
The teams were tied at 1, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Crookston was playing their best defensive set of the season with amazing digs and great passing. At this point in the match, Thief River Falls took over as they ended the set on a 13-4 run behind two kills apiece from Carlie Regalia and Saraphim Johnson and an ace from Ava Waldal for a 25-16 victory.
SECOND SET
Crookston started the second set by scoring the first three points of the set before Thief River Falls took over with a 10-0 run for a 10-3 lead. The run was spared by two Johnson kills, two Lilly Homme kills, and an ace apiece from Olivia Tougis and Rogalla. Crookston would keep the deficit close to the five and six-point margin and trailed 15-10 before Thief River Falls ended the set on a 10-2 run for a 25-12 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
THIRD SET
The teams were tied at 2 and 3, and Crookston took a 4-3 lead after a Prowler service error. Thief River Falls responded with a 12-0 run behind four service aces from Ali Yuska, three kills from Waldal, and a kill from Homme, and the Prowlers led 15-4. The teams played even the rest of the way, but the deficit was too much, and Thief River Falls cruised to a 25-14 victory to win the match 3-0.
Crookston drops to 1-5 on the year and will travel to the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Invitational tournament in Warren on Saturday. Thief River Falls improves to 5-4 on the year.
J.V. TRF won 2-0 C-squad – TRF won 2-0
FOR COACH KATIE ENGELSTAD’S COMMENTS CLICK BELOW-
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Crookston | 16 | 12 | 14 |
| Thief River Falls | 25 | 25 | 25 |
For CROOKSTON
Kills –Joey Nesseth 4, Mackenzie Funk 4
Blocks – None
Digs – Dani Kresl 18, Emma LaPlante 9
Assists – Joey Nesseth 7, Makenna Kopecky 6
Aces – Makenna Kopecky 1, Kristine Bernd 1
