The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team hosted the Warroad Warriors on parent night Tuesday, in a matchup of Section 8AA teams. Crookston played well at times, but Warroad was better and was able to pull out the victory in four sets (25-14, 25-27, 25-20, 25-13).
First Set
The two teams traded the lead a few times in the opening set before Warroad scored three straight to pull in front 7-3. The Pirates hung around for the majority of the set finding themselves down 11-9. Warroad took control of the set from their scoring 8 straight points to pull in front 19-9. The Warriors outside hitters were doing most of the damage. The Pirates still never gave up and after a little run of their own capped off by a Joey Nesseth kill, Crookston only trailed 21-13. Warroad would settle back down and finish off the set winning it 25-14 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Second Set
The second set was very similar to the first set with the teams trading the lead back and forth early on. Crookston was feeding off the energy from the gym and was able to match the Warriors stride for stride with the set staying close all set long. With the set tied at 16-16 all, the Warriors would rattle off three straight points to force a Pirates timeout with the lead 19-16. Crookston would capitalize on a few Warriors errors to hang around, but eventually, it appeared as if Warroad would once again win the set as they were in front 23-20. Crookston would again take advantage of some mistakes from the Warriors, and that allowed Crookston to come all the way back and have a set point leading 25-24. Warroad would fight off the set point, but Crookston would quickly get a point after that giving themselves another opportunity to win the set. Destiny Goulet-Ramirez would take advantage of the opportunity and pound home a kill giving Crookston a 27-25 win and tying the match at 1-1.
Third Set
The Pirates would jump out to an early 2-0 lead thanks in part to a Mackenize Funk kill. Crookston would carry that momentum over to the early part of the set, and after an Emilee Tate ace, the Pirates led 7-3. Crookston maintained a three to four point lead up until Warraod scored three points in a row to tie the set at 16-16 all. Warroad would continue their strong play and overtake the lead after four of the next five points giving them a 20-17 lead. Some Warriors mistakes kept Crookston in the set, but this time the Warriors wouldn’t give the lead up, and would win the third set 25-20. Warroad was able to once again get their outside hitters going to come back and win the set.
Fourth Set
Warroad came out and blitzed the Pirates early on in the fourth set, scoring the first five points to go up 5-0 and force a Crookston timeout. The fourth set was never close, as Warroad continued to slowly extend their lead and take out any drama. Crookston would fight off three match points, but the Warriors would finally end the match with a 25-13 fourth set victory.
Crookston drops to 2-16 on the year and will be back in action on Thursday when they host East Grand Forks. The match will begin at 7:15 p.m. and you can watch the action on the KROX Livestream starting with the RiverView Health prematch show at 6:45 p.m. Warroad improves to 6-14 with the win.
FOR PIRATES COACH KATIE ENGELSTAD’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Warroad | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| CROOKSTON | 14 | 27 | 20 | 13 |
For CROOKSTON
Kills – Destiny Goulet-Ramirez- (6), Brianna Wardner- (5), Libby Salentine- (4)
Blocks – Joey Nesseth- (2), Libby Salentine- (1)
Digs – Dani Kresl- (29), Anna Funk- (20)
Assists – Libby Salentine- (15)
Aces – Dani Kresl- (1)
For Warroad
Kills – Aura Moyer- (21), Alexis Anthony- (9), Cassidy Kotlowski- (5)
Blocks – Alexis Anthony- (1)
Digs – Rylee Bartz- (39), Alexis Anthony- (18)
Assists –Rilynn Anderson- (25), Kathrine Schreiner- (13)
Aces – Rylee Bartz, Alexis Anthony- (3 each), Aura Moyer- (1)
