The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Volleyball squad played well and came away with a 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-15, 25-21) victory over the Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal Titans in a match played at the Crookston High School gymnasium. “I think the girls needed it. I think the coaching staff needed it. We really needed a win,” said Pirates Head Coach Katie Engelstad. “That was fun.”
FIRST SET
Like they have all season long, Crookston jumped out to a lead to start a set at 2-0 and eventually 4-1, using two Titans’ errors and two kills from Ally Perreault on first hits. The Pirates extended their lead to 6-2, but the Titans answered and tied the set at 6-6. However, the Pirates returned the favor going on a big 10-3 run to create separation. “It was eerily quiet at times tonight, but we fought through it,” said Coach Engelstad. “It was great to have the girls cheering loud after every point and fighting for it together.” The Pirates benefitted from three NCE-UH attack errors and two lifts, which ended up altering strategy throughout the match. The Pirates continued with a Mallorie Sundeen kill to force the Titans to use a timeout. The Pirates used that run well, not allowing NCE-UH back within four points the rest of the set on their way to a 25-21 set victory.
SECOND SET
The second start began with NCE-UH coming out strong to go on a quick 11-3 run. The Pirates have not been able to answer back a big run often this season, but they did it again using a 6-0 run to get right back into the set. It started with a Libby Salentine kill, Bailey Cameron ace, and a lift on the Titans and finished with a Titans’ timeout. Crookston held the momentum through the timeout, battling back from eight down to tie the set at 13. The rest of the set was tight, with neither team able to gain much of a lead. The sides found themselves tied again at 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, and 24 before NCE-UH was able to gain the last two points of the set to win 24-26 and tie the match at 1-1.
THIRD SET
The critical third set started with a huge run for the Pirates. The first three points were called lifts on the Titans. “I was familiar with the refs, so we knew they were going to be a little bit picky on the sets, so I told the girls that they will be looking for the spin-off the fingers and to not let some of the calls get in their heads,” explained Coach Engelstad. “We had a good drill yesterday that helped us, and it was nice to see them sweep that under the rug.” After a brief pause to discuss the lift calls, the Pirates continued to play good volleyball. A kill from Ally Perreault and two aces from Libby Salentine pushed the lead to 7-0 before a NCE-UH timeout. After that timeout, the Titans played much better, slowly but surely working their way back into the set and trailing by just one point at 15-14. Still, like they had all night, the Pirates had a big run in them, finishing the set on a 10-1 run. “We haven’t been able to answer runs very much this year, so it was great to see that tonight,” added Coach Engelstad. It started with another Sundeen kill, a Breanna Kressin ace, and a Hannah Loraas kill, and ending the set was Salentine with another ace to give the Pirates a 25-15 set victory. “Breanna makes every ball she receives a playable ball for our setters, and she should be really proud of how she’s been playing,” added Coach Engelstad. “She’s gotta keep it up, and she has a strong mind, so I know she will keep it up for us.”
FOURTH SET
Trying to finish off the match before getting to a fifth set, Crookston left no doubt as they did not trail in the set and were tied just once at 4-4. NCE-UH worked hard to stay in the set, and they did. Crookston upped the lead to six points at 14-8, using a 10-4 run, highlighted by an ace from Anna Funk, a couple of kills from Sundeen, and a couple more lift calls on the Titans. “We have a great middle hitter in each of our rotations with Mallorie and Ally, and it’s fun to watch them go,” said Coach Engelstad. Yet, the Titans would not go away as they worked themselves back into the set. Trailing late by seven points at 21-14, it looked as if the Pirates would put it away easily, but NCE-UH went on a 7-2 run, but another lift call on the Titans ended the set and match with a Pirates 25-21 set victory. “We have a busy weekend coming up, so this is a big win for us going into the next couple of days,” said Coach Engelstad.
Crookston earns their second win of the year and improves to 2-5. They will travel to Warren-Alvarado-Oslo for a tournament on Saturday.
Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal drops to 1-3 this season.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
NCE/UH | 21 | 26 | 15 | 21 |
CROOKSTON | 25 | 24 | 25 | 25 |
For CROOKSTON
Kills – Ally Perreault- 12, Mallorie Sundeen- 10, Libby Salentine- 3
Assists – Libby Salentine- 13, Anna Funk- 11
Digs – Breanna Kressin- 31
Blocks – No Blocks
Aces – Ally Perreault- 3, Breanna Kressin- 3, Bailey Cameron and Libby Salentine-2
For Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal
Kills – Rylie Theis- 5, Izzy Klemetson- 4, Reagan Oberg and Jocelyn Braseth- 3 each
Assists – Reagan Oberg- 10, Payton Haspel- 7
Digs – Adi Klemetson- 32
Blocks – Gwenyth Fain- 2, Jocelyn Braseth and Izzy Klemetson- 1 each
Aces – Jocelyn Braseth- 3, Rylie Theis and Adi Klemetson- 1 each