The Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies’ Reegan Mortimer and Markelle Pederson were impressive and dominant as they led their team to a 3-0 (25-6, 25-7, 25-4) victory over the Crookston Pirates at the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo High School gymnasium on senior night and parent night.
FIRST SET
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo (WAO) dominated at the start of the match, coming out swinging and picking up a bunch of kills. The match started with a pair of kills from Reegan Mortimer. After two errors by Crookston, Mortimer followed with two more kills for a 6-0 lead. Crookston had a bad pass and hit into the net before Markelle Pederson had a kill for a 9-0 lead. “In the pregame, I said serving was key, and we showed it was because we were ready to rock,” said WAO Coach Ashley Stroble. “That start was huge. The kills from Reegan and Pederson are expected.”
Crookston finally got on the board when Mackenzie Funk recorded a kill, and the Pirates trailed 9-1. WAO’s Mortimer continued her dominance as she followed with three kills, and after Crookston gave the Ponies a point on a bad pass, Mortimer added another kill for a 14-1 lead. The Ponies served out of bounds, and Crookston’s Madi Abrams served up an ace to get within 14-3. WAO outscored Crookston 11-3 the rest of the way behind three service aces, kills from Mortimer, Pederson, and Lola Linder, some Crookston errors, and the set ended with a Kenley Marquis service ace for a 25-6 victory and a 1-0 lead in the match. “We sat in the gym way too long today, and you could see it,” said Crookston Coach Katie Morgan. “I don’t think we were moving or ready for them, but it showed.”
SECOND SET
WAO jumped out to an 8-1 lead to start the set behind three more Mortimer kills (for 12 in the match at this point), an ace from Taylor Wentz, and several Crookston errors. Crookston slowly chipped away at the deficit and looked like they had figured out the Ponies after an Abigail Bruley kill to get within an 11-5 deficit. The teams exchanged points, and after a Funk kill and a Pony error, Crookston trailed 14-7. WAO has struggled closing out sets this season, but Tuesday night might have been a turning point as they powered their way to an 11-0 run to end the set. “That was a huge confidence builder for us,” said WAO Coach Stroble. “I was hoping we could do that today and show the girls we can do it, and they did.” The run started with a Pederson kill, followed by two Crookston errors. Mortimer added a block for a kill before Crookston fell apart with seven straight errors. They hit into the net, hit out of bounds, hit into the net, hit out of bounds two times, had a bad pass, and the set ended with a hit into the net, and the Ponies won 25-7. “We can’t beat ourselves,” said Pirate Coach Morgan. “We didn’t let them beat us at the end there.”
THIRD SET
Crookston’s struggles at the end of the second set carried over to the third set as the Pirates started with two attacks into the net and two more out of bounds and trailed 4-0. WAO’s Pederson followed with two kills, and after two Crookston attacks went out of bounds, the Ponies’ Mortimer had a kill for her 14th of the match, which was one more point than the entire Crookston team in the match. The Ponies continued their dominance as Crookston hit out of bounds, Pederson had two kills, followed by a Mortimer kill, and another Pederson kill for a 14-0 lead. “When I was doing the lineups before the set I think I heard an assistant coach say they don’t deserve six or seven points,” said WAO Coach Stroble. “We were gung ho and ready to go after that and didn’t let up at all.”
Crookston finally ended the run on a Naomi Johnson kill. WAO responded with a Pederson service ace, a Pirate attack out of bounds, another Pederson ace, and a Mortimer kill for a 19-1 lead. WAO had a 23-4 lead when Crookston hit into the net twice, and the Ponies won the set 25-4 to win the match 3-0. “I thought our serve receive was the best it has been all year,” said Pirate Coach Morgan. “We are all making mistakes, and we all have to support each other, and we have to worry about the next point and not the score. That has been a hurdle all year.”
Crookston drops to 0-15 on the year and will travel to Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal on Thursday. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo improves to 3-19 on the year and will play Kittson County Central on Friday.
J.V. – WAO won 2-0 C-Squad – WAO won 2-1
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Crookston | 6 | 7 | 4 |
| Warren-A-O | 25 | 25 | 25 |
For Crookston
Kills – Mackenzie Funk – 3, Abi Bruley – 2
Blocks – None
Digs – Emily Bowman – 8, Joey Nesseth – 5
Assists- Makenna Kopecky – 3, Rilynn Aubol -2
Aces –Madi Abrams – 1, Rilynn Aubol – 1
For Warren-A-O
Kills – Reegan Mortimer – 16, Markelle Pederson – 9
Aces – Taylor Wentz – 3, Markelle Pederson – 3, Kadence Wimpfheimer – 2
