The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team fell behind two sets to nothing for the second straight match, but this time they couldn’t work their comeback magic as the Mahnomen-Waubun Thunderbirds won the match 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-22) in a match played at the Crookston High School gymnasium. “They were really scrappy and had a great hitter that they used well,” said Pirates Head Coach Katie Engelstad.
SET ONE –
Crookston jumped out to a 4-1 lead with three kills from Ally Perreault. Mahnomen-Waubun answered to tie the set at six and again at 7, 8, and nine. Mahnomen-Waubun took over the match with an 8-0 run behind the big swings from Rylee McArthur and Kendra Syverson for a 17-9 lead. The Thunderbirds held the lead the rest of the way and won the first set 25-18. “They played a lot of off-system plays… in just our second match this year we haven’t faced that so we will work on that,” explained Coach Engelstad.
SET TWO –
Mahnomen-Waubun jumped out to a 2-1 lead before Crookston’s Rylee Solheim had a big swing for a kill and Breanna Kressin followed with an ace to tie the set at three. The teams were tied at 4, 5, 6, 10, and 11. Mahnomen/Waubun used another big run that was sparked by a Syverson ace and some Crookston passing and hitting errors and after a 7-2 run they led 18-13. “Our passing was a little off tonight and I think we got in our own heads with that,” added Coach Engelstad. Mahnomen-Waubun kept the pressure on and scored two points on Crookston errors before Syverson had a big kill to giver her team a 21-16 lead. The teams exchanged points before Crookston had a big kill from Perreault and the Pirates scored two more points on a passing error and an attack error to get within a 22-20 deficit. Crookston had a few errors giving the Thunderbirds a couple of points for a 24-20 lead. The Thunderbirds had an attack error, but followed with a kill from Sunshine Englund for a 25-21 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Pirates serves were not as crisp as they want and Coach Engelstad explained that she talked to her team in a timeout saying, “We talked about letting them mess up. We have to give them something to mess up on and we didn’t always give them that.”
SET THREE –
Mahnomen-Waubun started the third set with a big 5-0 run behind some nice serves, powerful attacks, and solid defense. Crookston finally got on the board with a Perreault kill, which was followed by a Hannah Brouse ace to get within a 5-2 deficit. Crookston kept the run going and got within a 7-6 deficit. The teams continued to exchange points and after a long point with good play on both sides, Mahnomen-Waubun took a 10-8 lead. After a Thunderbird attack out of bounds, Ally Perreault had a kill, and the Thunderbirds had a couple of attack errors and Crookston took a 13-11 lead. “She has really stepped up in these two matches this year and it’s great to see,” said Coach Engelstad. “The girls look up to her. She is a vocal person off the court and maybe not as much on the court, but she has that presence on the court that we need.” Mahnomen-Waubun battled back to tie the set at 16 and regained the lead with a point off a joust at the net for a 17-16 lead. A bad Thunderbird serve gave Crookston a point to tie the set at 17, on the ensuing point the Thunderbirds were in the net on a block to give Crookston a point. Perreault followed with a big kill and after a Thunderbird point Perreault followed with another kill to give the Pirates a 20-18 lead. Crookston followed with two hitting errors, which was followed by three straight Thunderbird points for a 23-20 lead. Perreault stopped the run with a big kill, but Mahnomen-Waubun answered with a kill for a 24-21 lead. Crookston stayed alive with a big Solheim kill to get within a 24-22 deficit, but Mahnomen-Waubun responded with a big kill for a 25-22 victory to win the match 3-0.
Crookston drops to 1-1 on the year and will travel to Ada to take on Ada-Borup on Thursday. Mahnomen-Waubun improves to 1-1 on the year.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Mahnomen-Waubun | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| CROOKSTON | 18 | 21 | 22 |
For Crookston
Kills – Ally Perreault- 13, Rylee Solheim- 5
Blocks – Ally Perreault- 2
Assists – Libby Salentine- 11, Anna Funk- 9
Digs – Libby Salentine – 9, Breanna Kressin – 9
Aces – Hannah Brouse and Libby Salentine- 1 each
For Mahnomen-Waubun
Kills – Kendra Syverson- 9, Rylee McArthur- 5, Sunshine Englund- 2
Blocks – Rylee McArthur- 1
Assists – Rylee McArthur- 6, Cady Clark- 6
Aces – Kendra Syverson- 4, Roni Keezer- 2, Cady Clark- 1
