The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team traveled to Fertile on Monday night to take on the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons. Fertile-Beltrami started fast in all three sets, and the Pirates never held a lead at any point on the Falcons way to winning the match in three sets (25-8, 25-9, 25-13).
First Set
Fertile-Beltrami pounced on the Pirates early scoring the first five points before Crookston got a kill from Destiny Goulet-Ramirez to make it 5-1 Falcons. Fertile-Beltrami would then rattle off five more capped off by a kill from Tori Erickson to take a 10-1 lead and force a Crookston timeout. The Pirates settled in momentarily after the timeout getting two of the next three points, but Fertile-Beltrami would score eight of the next nine with multiple aces to pull in front 19-4 and force the Pirates to take their last timeout of the set. Crookston would play better towards the end of the set and get three straight points in a row, but the Falcons would finish things off with another kill and win the opening set convincingly 25-8. Leading the way for the Falcons in the opening set with multiple kills was Kasia Wilson and Grace Prouxl, while Crookston was led by Destiny Goulet-Ramirez with a couple of kills of her own.
Second Set
The Pirates had a similar second set and never had the lead. Fertile-Beltrami slowly pulled out to a 3-2 lead before five straight points made it 8-2. The Falcons would continue to pull away leading 15-4 before the Pirates scored three of the next four points to cut the deficit to 16-7. After a couple of Falcons points, the Pirates would use a timeout and talk things over trailing 18-8. Fertile-Beltrami would wrap the set up off the timeout scoring seven of the next eight points to win the set 25-9. The Falcons continue to excel with their passing and serving to take the 2-0 lead into the third set.
Third Set
The third set was very similar once again with Fertile-Beltrami’s outside hitters getting clean looks and capitalizing. After a 1-1 start, the Falcons would go on a 9-2 run to take a commanding 10-3 lead, forcing a Pirates timeout. Specifically, Grace Proulx and Kasia Wilson were executing at a high level on the outside for Fertile-Beltrami. The Pirates would play their best volleyball of the night towards the end of the third set and score four straight points at one time. Fertile-Beltrami was too much however, and the Falcons would close the set out 25-13, and win the match in straight sets.
Crookston falls to 1-10 on the season and will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Plummer to take on Red Lake County Central. You can listen to the game on KROX. Fertile-Beltrami improves to 4-6 on the year with the win.
FOR PIRATES COACH KATIE ENGELSTAD’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
Audio Player
FOR FALCONS COACH KERRI SOLIE’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| CROOKSTON | 8 | 9 | 13 |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 25 | 25 | 25 |
For CROOKSTON
Kills – Libby Salentine- (4), Anna funk, MacKenzie Funk, Grace Fischer- (3 each)
Blocks – NONE
Digs – Dani Kresl- (16), Hannah Brouse- (9)
Assists – Libby Salentine- (7), Anna Funk- (7)
Aces – NONE
For Fertile-Beltrami
Kills – Kasia Wilson- (12), Grace Proulx- (11), Tori Erickson- (9)
Blocks – JoJo Dunbar, Madison Stueness, Brooke Fladhammer- (1 each)
Digs – Brooklyn Strem- (9), Zoe Messick, Katelyn Aakhus, Maren Sather- (7 each)
Assists – Katelyn Aakhus- (33)
Aces – Katelyn Aakhus- (3), B. Strem,Maren Sather, Kaylee Hitchen, JoJo Dunbar- (2 each)
