The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team opened up the season with a 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-19, 25-15) victory over the Bagley Flyers in a match played at the Bagley High School Gymnasium.
Crookston couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season when they scored the first five points of the match, sparked by three service aces from Emma Boll. “Emma is an amazing server so I put a sophomore out there to start it off and she did great,” said Crookston Coach Ashley Stopa. Crookston continued to build on the lead with two kills from Kylie Solheim, a kill from Hailey Seaver and another kill from Boll for a 15-5 lead. The Pirates led 19-8 when Bagley went on an 8-0 run behind four Crookston hitting errors. Rachel Hefta stopped the Bagley run with a kill and the set was won when Kaitlyn Genereux served an ace for a 25-17 victory. “We got into a little bit of a lull there and were kind of cruising for a little bit,” said Coach Stopa. “It was nice to stop the run and finish the set for the win.”
In the second set, Bagley came out strong for a 5-1 lead. Crookston battled back to tie the set at 7-7 (the first tie of the match) and built a 15-11 lead. Bagley took advantage of some Crookston hitting mistakes, combined with some nice Flyer kills to tie the set at 16-16. The teams were tied at 17, 20, 21, 22, and 23 when Bagley had back-to-back kills to win the set 25-23 to tie the match at 1-1. “We had the same problem last year, where we started slow in the second set,” said Coach Stopa. “We will have to figure that out, but I like how the girls battled back and played hard the rest of the way.”
Bagley took a 3-1 lead in the third set before Crookston answered with three straight points when the Flyers had three hitting errors and the set was tied at 4-4. The teams were tied at 5 and 6 before Crookston’s Seaver had two kills, Cwikla had an ace and Genereux had a kill for a 10-6 lead. Bagley kept the score close the rest of the way and Crookston led 22-19 before Boll had a kill, Cwikla added an ace and Genereux won the set with a kill for a 25-19 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match. “The girls played better towards the end,” said Coach Stopa. “Bagley was making some nice plays and was aggressive and playing well, so it was nice to finish the game strong to get the win.”
In the fourth set, Crookston jumped out to an 8-1 lead behind Cwikla and Hefta’s three kills apiece and Seaver had an ace. “My three tallest girls were getting it done, which was nice to see,” said Coach Stopa. “That is exactly the way we wanted to start the set and it was nice to see.” Crookston played strong the rest of the way and cruised to a 25-15 victory to win the match 3-1. “It was nice to win the first match and a good start,” said Coach Stopa. “The team came together and they had good communication. We have a lot of weapons and I will take that any day. We have to get ready for a good opponent on Monday and it will be good to see where we are at against a tough program.”
Crookston improves to 1-0 on the year and will host Fosston on Monday, a match you can hear on KROX Radio. Bagley drops to 0-1 on the season.
J.V. – Bagley won 2-0 C Squad – Crookston won 2-1
Rachel Hefta with one of her digs Kylie Solheim sets up a teammate
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| CROOKSTON | 25 | 23 | 25 | 25 |
| Bagley | 17 | 25 | 19 | 15 |
Sydney Anderson with a serve
For Crookston
Kills – Hailey Seaver – 9, Rachel Hefta – 8, Kasey Cwikla – 7
Blocks – Hailey Seaver – 4, Kylie Solheim – 2
Assists – Katelynn Genereux – 13
Digs – Dani Boyle – 16, Rachel Hefta – 11, Emma Boll – 11
Aces – Emma Boll – 3, Kasey Cwikla – 3
For Bagley
Kills – Bayli Dukek – 11, Kylii Anderson – 5, Aleah Nelson – 5
Blocks – Kylii Anderson – 2
Assists – Tessa Tramm – 22
Digs – Tessa Tramm – 19, Cori Bonik – 19, Aleah Nelson – 14
Aces – Maria Melbo – 4, Cori Bonik – 3
