The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team hosted their annual Crookston Pirate Volleyball Invitational of almost seven hours of volleyball at the Crookston High School gymnasium. Â Crookston went 1-2 in pool play, finished second place in the pool, and finished fourth place in the tournament.Â
CROOKSTON vs CLIMAX-FISHER –Â
Crookston came out strong and started the morning with some excellent serves and took an early lead. Climax-Fisher battled back to tie the set and was back and forth the rest of the way. Late in the first set, Crookston had some costly errors, and Climax-Fisher won the set 26-24. “It was a good start.  We came out strong right away and had some good serves from Libby (Salentine),” said Pirate Coach Katie Engelstad. “It was a good set, and at the end, we had some unforced errors which hurt us.”
The Climax-Fisher Knights were shorthanded, which didn’t seem to hurt them the rest of the way as they cruised to a 25-9 victory in the second set to win the match. “The unforced errors at the end of the first set carried over into the second set, and we lost all momentum,” said Coach Engelstad. “Climax-Fisher took over and had all the momentum, and they started playing well at that time.”
| 1 | 2 | |
| Climax-Fisher | 26 | 25 |
| CROOKSTON | 24 | 9 |
For CROOKSTON
Kills – Brianna Wardner 3 Mackenzie Funk 2 Anna Funk 2
Assists – Libby Salentine 8
Digs – Danielle Kresl 23 Anna Funk 5 Libby Salentine 5 Hannah Brouse 5
Aces – Libby Salentine 1 Julia Lallier 1
Blocks – none
CROOKSTON vs CLEARBROOK-GONVICK –
Clearbrook-Gonvick dominated the first set and jumped to a 16-9 lead. Clearbrook-Gonvick continued to roll while outscoring Crookston 9-3 the rest of the way to win the first set 25-12.  “That wasn’t the start we wanted.  We came out pretty slow,” said Coach Engelstad.Â
Crookston started the second set strong and built a 5-3 lead. The teams played even with several small runs, and the Pirates led 16-12. Crookston’s defense picked up, and that seemed to spur the offense as they slowly pulled away for a 25-16 victory, forcing a third set. “The girls had a little fire under their feet,” said Coach Engelstad. “We were passing and hitting well.”
The third set was a back-and-forth battle early on with ties at 1, 4, 5, 6, and 8.  With the set tied at with, Crookston had a passing error and an attack error before the Bears served up an ace for an 11-8 lead.  Crookston responded with a kill, and after an exchange of points, the Pirates trailed 12-10.  Crookston didn’t take advantage of the momentum as they served into the net, Clearbrook-Gonvick had a kill, and the Pirates hit out of bounds, and the Bears won the set 15-10 and the match 2-1. “It wasn’t the result we wanted, but the girls played hard and it was fun to see them fight in the third set,” added Coach Engelstad.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Clearbrook-Gonvick | 25 | 16 | 15 |
| CROOKSTON | 12 | 25 | 10 |
For CROOKSTO
Kills – Anna Funk 4
Assists Libby Salentine 7
Digs – Danielle Kresl 15 Anna Funk 6 Hannah Brouse 4
Aces – Lorelai Hebert 2
Blocks Destiny Goulet 1
CROOKSTON vs NORTHOME-KELLIHER –
In the final match of pool play, Crookston finished with a bang with a 2-0 victory over Northome-Kelliher. Â Crookston took an early lead, and that momentum continued throughout the first set. Â The team settled in and seemed to gel as the day progressed, which helped with the passing and attacks. Â Crookston pulled away for a 25-16 victory in the first set. Â “We came out ready to play,” said Coach Engelstad. “They were ready to swing, communicate with each other, and they played well.”
The second set was close from start to finish. Â Neither team led by more than a few points, and Crookston led 16-14. Â Every time Northome-Kelliher tried to make a run, Crookston limited the runs to only a few points at a time, which helped them to a 23-21 lead. Â Crookston scored a point on a kill before Northome-Kelliher scored to get within 24-22. Â Crookston scored the next point and won 25-22 to win the match 2-0. “It was nice to get the win in two sets,” said Coach Engelstad. “It turned out to be important because we won the tie-breaker for second place so that was an important win for us. Â The girls really played well in the match and that was great to see.”
Because Crookston swept the match 2-0, that moved them into second place in the pool. Â The tournament seeds were decided by set wins vs. losses. Â Crookston won three sets. Â Northome-Kelliher won three sets, but Crookston won head-to-head. Â Clearbrook-Gonvick only won two sets and finished fourth place in the pool.Â
| 1 | 2 | |
| Northome-Kelliher | 16 | 22 |
| CROOKSTON | 25 | 25 |
For CROOKSTON
Kills – Anna Funk 4 Grace Fischer 4
Assists – Libby Salentine 10
Digs – Julia Lallier 6 Libby Salentine 3
Aces – Libby Salentine 3 Hannah Brouse 1 Danielle Kresl 1 Anna Funk 1
Blocks – none
CROOKSTON vs STEPHEN-ARGYLE (THIRD PLACE) –
In the third place match, Stephen-Argyle took advantage of several Crookston errors and took a 5-1 lead to start the match. The Storm followed with a Liv Efta ace, and an Emma Evans kill for a 7-1 lead. Â Crookston seemed to settle in and went on a nice run with two kills to get within an 8-5 deficit. Â The teams played even and Crookston got within a 14-11 deficit after an ace from Hannah Brouse, but the next serve was in the net. With the score 16-12, Dani Kresl served up an ace to get within 16-13, but Stephen-Argyle scored the next two points. Â Crookston stopped the mini-run with a kill by Mackenzie Funk. Â The Pirates couldn’t stand prosperity as they served it into the net looking to side out and after a long volley, Anna Funk had a nice kill before the Storm hit one out of bounds and Crookston trailed 19-15. Â Once again, the Pirates served out of bounds, and Stephen-Argyle followed with a Greta Svendson ace off the top of the net for a 21-18 lead. Â Crookston scored the next two points Stephen-Argyle outscored Crookston the rest of the way 4-2 and won the set 25-20.Â
Stephen-Argyle scored the points of the second set behind solid attacks from Emily Marquis. and Charlotte Rogus and before Crookston could blink the Storm led 5-0. Crookston finally got on the board when the Storm had an attack error. Â Crookston took advantage of the slight momentum swing as Anna Funk had a big attack for a kill and the Storm hit the ball into the net and Crookston trailed 5-3. Â The teams exchanged points and the Storm led 7-5 when Evans served up an ace and that sparked a 6-1 Storm run for a 12-6 lead. After a point by Crookston, Stephen-Argyle started to slowly pull away and took a 20-11 lead. Crookston scored the next three points, taking advantage of several Storm attack errors, and got within 20-14. Â Crookston followed with a couple of errors before an ace from Rogus and the Storm led 23-14. Â Stephen-Argyle’s Ellie Rivard followed with a kill and the Pirates had an attack go out of bounds and the Storm won the set 25-14 and the match 2-0.
| THIRD PLACE | 1 | 2 |
| Stephen-Argyle | 25 | 25 |
| CROOKSTON | 20 | 14 |
For CROOKSTON
Kills – Anna Funk 8 Destiny Goulet 4 Mackenzie Funk 3
Assists – Libby Salentine 12
Digs – Danielle Kresl 12 Libby Salentine 6 Anna Funk 6
Aces – Hannah Brouse 2 Danielle Kresl 1 Lorelai Hebert 1 Anna Funk 1
Blocks 0
Other scores from the Crookston tournament –
Clearbrook-Gonvick 1 Â vs Northome-Kelliher 2 Â (25-22, 23-25, 15-8)
Bagley  0  vs  Stephen-Argyle  2  (25-14, 25-18)
Warroad  2  vs  Bagley 0  (25-16, 25-23)
Climax-Fisher  2  vs  Northome-Kelliher  1  (25-27, 25-10, 15-12)
East Grand Forks  2  vs  Stephen-Argyle 1  (25-18, 22-25, 17-15)
Climax-Fisher 2  vs  Clearbrook-Gonvick 0  (25-18, 25-20)
East Grand Forks 2  vs  Bagley 0  (25-16, 25-16)
Warroad  0  vs East Grand Forks  2  (25-16, 25-14)
Stephen-Argyle 2  vs  Warroad 0  (25-10, 25-16)
CROOKSTON TOURNAMENT FINALS –  (Total Wins vs Losses)
Championship – East Grand Forks 2 vs Climax-Fisher 1 Â (25-15, 22-25, 15-8)
3rd place – Stephen-Argyle 2  vs  Crookston 0  (25-20, 25-14)
5th place – Warroad 2  vs  Northome-Kelliher 0  (25-18, 26-24)
7th place – Bagley 0  vs Clearbrook-Gonvick 2  (25-22, 25-11)
