CROOKSTON VOLLEYBALL FALLS TO BAGLEY IN SEASON OPENER

The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team struggled to start the season as the Bagley Flyers scored the first eight points of the match and won the match 3-1 (25-11, 27-25, 21-25, 25-15) in the season opener match for both teams at the Crookston High School gymnasium.

First Set
Bagley couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season as they scored the first eight points while taking advantage of four Pirate mistakes and two Jeana Proulx aces for an 8-0 lead. Crookston finally got on the board when Bagley misplayed a ball, but the Flyers responded with four more points for a 12-1 lead.  The lead would stay in double figures until Crookston got within a 17-9 deficit after a Mackenzie Funk ace. Bagley dominated the rest of the way for a 25-11 victory.

Second Set
The teams were tied at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. They continued to battle back and forth before the teams were tied at 17. Crookston took a 19-17 lead when Bagley had two hitting errors, which sparked a run that gave the Pirates a 24-18 lead. Bagley settled down and battled back in a big way as Kira Thompson and Sadie Fultz had back-to-back kills, Isabella Warmbold had an ace, and Fultz followed with another kill before Crookston had an attack go out of bounds to get within a 24-23 deficit. Warmbold followed with another ace to tie the set at 24. The teams exchanged points and were tied at 25 before Bagley finished with two kills to complete the come-from-behind victory 27-25.

Third Set
Bagley started the set by scoring the first four points before they had a bad pass, and Crookston scored to trail 4-1. That first Pirate point sparked a 4-1 run to tie the set at 5-5. Kristine Bernd had a kill, and Bagley committed three straight errors before Naomi Johnson had a kill. After another Bagley error, Bernd had an ace for a 12-5 lead to cap an 11-1 run. Bagley would slowly chip away at the Crookston lead and got within a 22-21 deficit before they served into the net. Joey Nesseth followed with an ace, and the set ended when Bagley hit out of bounds, and Crookston won 25-21 to force a fourth set.

Fourth Set
Bagley set the tone in the fourth set by going on a 7-0 run to start. Crookston battled back to get within a 13-11 deficit after a Bernd block. Bagley settled down and pulled away by outscoring the Pirates 12-4 to cruise to a 25-15 victory to win the match 3-1.

Crookston drops to 0-1 on the year and will host Mahnomen-Waubun on Tuesday. Bagley improves to 1-0 on the year. 
J.V. – Bagley won 2-0.    C Squad – Bagley won 2-0

FOR COACH KATIE ENGLESTAD’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW-

For CROOKSTON
Kills –Naomi Johnson 7, Mackenzie Funk 3
Blocks – Kristine Bernd 2, Joey Nesseth 1
Digs – Danielle Kresl 25, Emma LaPlante 21, Mackenzie Funk 17
Assists – Joey Nesseth 5, Makenna Kopecky 5
Aces – Mackenzie Funk 3, Kristine Bernd 3