CROOKSTON VOLLEYBALL GETS SWEPT IN WARROAD

The Crookston Pirate Girls Volleyball team took the long trek up to Warroad to pick up their first Section 8AA win of the season in their third try, but instead fell in three sets to the Warriors (25-16, 25-15, 25-18). “We struggled with our energy level. If our energy is down, we play down,” said Pirates Head Coach Katie Engelstad. “It’s a big thing for us and the girls have to figure out where they are at with it.”

First Set
Warroad took an early lead, but the Pirates stayed close behind a couple of kills from Rylee Solheim and an ace from Breanna Kressin. Six consecutive errors by the two sides found the set tied at 10-10. They were still tied at 14-14, before Crookston had five straight attack errors and a block from Katelyn Courteau gave the Warriors a six point lead. “We would go on some little runs, but then we we would have a misplay and then we are back in a low spot,” said Coach Engelstad. We had some free balls that we didn’t do anything with. Some passes were off and some swings were off.” Crookston got a kill from Mallorie Sundeen and an ace from Bailey Cameron, but Warroad finished with five straight points that included three aces and a kill from Aura Moyer to win the set 25-16. “We keep telling the girls that this isn’t anything we haven’t seen yet,” added Coach Engelstad.

Second Set
Warroad started with four straight points before an attack error and kill from Samantha Sanders made it 4-2. The Warriors opened up their lead with a 10-4 run behind three kills from Courteau. The Pirates answered back with a 4-0 run on another kill from Sanders and three attack errors. Warroad continued the back-and-forth runs with a 6-1 run. “It’s rally score so it’s easy for us to get right back into it, but we just weren’t getting back into these sets,” said Coach Engelstad. The Pirates got with in seven points at 21-14 after a kill from Sundeen but not any closer as they lost the set 25-15.

Third Set
Again, Warroad got a good start with a 4-1 run. Crookston tied it back up at 4-4 after a kill from Grace Fischer and a block from Anna Funk. The teams traded points as they were tied at 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13, and 14. The Pirates points were highlighted by two kills from Funk and two kills from Libby Salentine. “We are definitely playing as a team and we don’t have that one standout always. And that’s nice because we will always have someone we can go to,” said Coach Engelstad. “I think a lot of the girls feed off of Sam [Sanders] and Libby and Anna because they are that little fire underneath and they are a spark.” Warroad was the team that broke the run of ties as they went on a 7-0 run ending with two aces from Maddie Lavergne. They played even the rest of the way and Warroad won set three 25-18. “I think this game we really need to focus on. The girls knew and the coaches knew that this was a critical match tonight so I think we are a little upset with how we played tonight because we could have pulled out a W,” said Coach Engelstad. “We will pinpoint some things to fix for Thursday.”

The Pirates are now 4-11 this season. They will travel to East Grand Forks on Thursday.
Warroad improves to 9-9 this year.