Pirate Seniors – Katelynn Genereux, Sydney Anderson, Kylie Solheim, Rachel Hefta, Hailey Seaver and Karly Resendiz – The seniors and Coach Stopa after the match
The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team finished the regular season on a four-match winning streak with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-23) victory over the Climax-Fisher Knights on senior night at the Crookston High School gymnasium. The Crookston Pirates have five senior players (Kylie Solheim, Hailey Seaver, Sydney Anderson, Katelynn Genereux, and Rachel Hefta) and one senior manager (Karly Resendiz) and they were in tears after the victory. “I told them they are all seniors and I am proud of these girls and senior night is an emotional night for all of them,” said Pirate Coach Ashley Stopa. “They have given a lot to the program and I told them this was their last volleyball game on this court.”
Crookston started the match by starting all five senior players and freshman Rylee Solheim. The line up worked as Crookston scored the first three points of the match with a Rachel Hefta kill, a bad Knight pass and a Rylee Solheim kill for a 3-0 lead. “There are so many emotions on senior night and Rylee said I’ve got you guys,” said Coach Stopa. Climax-Fisher battled back to tie the set at 6-6 with a Delainey Fogarty kill. Crookston answered with a 9-3 run behind two kills apiece from Hefta and Rylee Solheim. Crookston held on to the lead the rest of the way and led 22-16 when Hailey Seaver served an ace and after the Knights were called for four hits, Hefta had a kill for the set winner for a 25-16 victory for a 1-0 lead. “The seniors have done this all season. They know when we need a point and get it and they have done it all season,” said Coach Stopa. “They played strong and kept going throughout the set.”
Climax-Fisher started the second set by scoring the first two points, including a Fogarty kill. Crookston responded with two points and kills from Kylie Solheim and Hefta, followed by a Sydney Anderson ace for a 5-2 lead. Crookston held the lead for the rest of the set and with a 23-19 lead, the Pirates Hefta had a kill and an ace for a 25-19 victory and a 2-0 lead. “The girls kept fighting and they did,” said Coach Stopa. “I think we missed a few serves, I think three or four. I thought we had a lot of hustle points and that was the difference.”
The third set was the closest of the evening and Crookston jumped out to a 3-1 lead. Climax-Fisher answered with kills from Bailee Scheer and Fogarty to tie the set at 3-3. The teams were tied at 4, 5, 9, 10, and 11 when Crookston went on a 5-0 run with a Knight shot out of bounds and four Hefta kills for a 16-11 lead. “Rachel didn’t swing super hard today, but found the open spots on the floor,” said Coach Stopa. Crookston committed six hitting errors on the next eight points and Climax-Fisher tied the set at 18. The teams were tied again at 20 and 23 when Hefta had a huge kill down the sideline on the near side of the floor for a 24-23 lead and on the next point the Knights serve receive had a pass go towards the net and the setter went under the net on the set and Crookston was awarded the point for a 25-23 victory to win the match 3-0. “It got a little tight towards the end and our hustle plays increased and we weren’t going to let the ball hit the ground,” said Coach Stopa. “I told the girls to swing and cheer and we did to win the match. I am happy with the way we are playing right now and we are looking forward to some practice time before we start playoffs.”
Crookston improves to 11-12-1 on the year and will likely travel to Thief River Falls on Thursday, October 25 for the first round of the playoffs. Climax-Fisher drops to 3-20 on the year and will take on Fertile-Beltrami Tuesday night to wrap up the regular season and they will have a Section 8A pigtail game on Monday against an opponent to be decided later this week. “We are right there, we just have to finish,” said Knight coach Kelsey Wagner. “Sometimes we get down on ourselves and that happens with a young team. We have a lot of underclassmen and we need to figure out some of the little details and as they play more, they get better.”
J.V. – Crookston won 2-0 C-Squad – Crookston won 2-0
Kylie Solheim with one of her assists Hailey Seaver with an attack
(Picture by Dave Emanuel of Wildfire Photography)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Climax-Fisher | 16 | 19 | 23 |
| CROOKSTON | 25 | 25 | 25 |
Delainey Fogarty with an attack (Picture by Dave Emanuel of Wildfire Photography)
For Crookston
Kills – Rachel Hefta – 19, Hailey Seaver – 4, Rylee Solheim – 4
Blocks – Hailey Seaver – 3
Assists – Kylie Solheim – 26
Digs – Hailey Seaver- 15, Kylie Solheim – 15, Dani Boyle – 7
Aces – Rylee Solheim – 2
The Crookston Pirate Senior Volleyball players and their parents before the match. (Picture by Dave Emanuel of Wildfire Photography)
