The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team came out strong to win their third match in a row with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-23) victory over the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies in a match played at the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo High School gymnasium.
The Ponies scored the first point of the match with a kill from Shelby Durand for a 1-0 lead. Crookston answered with a 9-1 run behind five Rachel Hefta kills to give the Pirates a 9-2 lead. “Warmups were super peppy, but the girls were super excited to be out there today,” said Pirate Coach Ashley Stopa. “We weren’t making errors and Rachel came out strong.” Another senior, Hailey Seaver continued her solid play as she had a stretch where she recorded four kills and Crookston led 18-9. The Pirates finished strong and won the set 25-11 with two Hefta kills for a 1-0 lead in the match. “Hailey and Rachel are coming out swinging and blocking the ball well,” said Coach Stopa. “I don’t think we missed any serves and our communication was good and we were moving.”
In the second set, Crookston started strong and jumped out to a 6-1 lead with three Hefta kills and an ace from Rylee Solheim. The Ponies battled back to get within a point a couple of times at 6-5 and 13-12. When the Ponies were within one point the second time, Crookston responded with a kill and slowly pulled away with kills from Hefta, two kills apiece from Kasey Cwikla and Sydney Anderson and Cwikla added an ace and the Pirates won the second set 25-17 to take a 2-0 lead. “Kylie (Solheim) did a great job of getting every hitter involved and distributed the ball evenly based on the matchups on the other side,” said Coach Stopa. “When it got close it made me nervous and they decide to swing harder and pull away. They worked hard as a team to win the set.”
The third set was tied at 1, 2, and 4 and Crookston slowly pulled away behind a couple kills apiece from Hefta and Seaver, and a kill from Rylee Solheim and the Pirates led 16-9. The Ponies answered with a 7-0 run behind two Rylie Mortimer aces and the set was tied at 16. “Their server did a really good job,” said Coach Stopa. “We didn’t react fast enough, and they did a good job of figuring out what they had to do to get out of it.” The Ponies served out of bounds and Hefta had two kills to give Crookston a 19-16 lead that turned into a 24-20 lead and Crookston was serving for match point. The Crookston serve went into the net, the Ponies added a kill apiece from Mortimor and Faith Porter and the Pirate lead was 24-23. The ensuing Pony serve went into the net and Crookston won the set 25-23 and the match 3-0. “Everyone was contributing tonight,” said Coach Stopa. “It is nice to get the third win in a row and it was another great team effort.” Crookston Pirate senior, Sydney Anderson said they are playing well at the right time. “I think we are starting to work as a team better and pushing through,” said Anderson. “I think we have stepped it up the last couple of weeks.”
Crookston improves to 10-12-1 and will wrap up the regular season hosting Climax-Fisher on Monday, October 15. Warren-A-O drops to 4-17 on the year and host Kittson County Central on Friday.
J.V. – WAO won 2-0 C Squad – WAO won 2-0
Sydney Anderson with one of her digs Rylee Solheim goes for a kill
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| CROOKSTON | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Warren-A-O | 11 | 17 | 23 |
Kylie Solheim with a set as her teammates are all smiles
For Crookston
Kills – Rachel Hefta – 19, Hailey Seaver – 7
Assists – Kylie Solheim – 24
Digs – Kylie Solheim – 17, Hailey Seaver – 17, Dani Boyle – 10
Aces – Sydney Anderson – 1, Rylee Solheim – 1, Kasey Cwikla -1
For Warren Alvarado Oslo
Kills – Shelby Durand – 5, Riley Mortimer – 4
Assists – Elise Oberg – 6, Emma Oberg – 6
Digs – Makenzie Roller -20, Elise Oberg – 18, Riley Mortimer – 12
Aces – Riley Mortimer – 3, Makenzie Roller – 2
