Pirate Volleyball Wins The Crookston Pirate Invite

The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team with their 1st place medals (Picture by Lacia Hanson)

The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team went 3-1 in pool play by beating Bagley 2-0 (25-18, 26-24), Climax-Fisher 2-0 (25-23, 25-22, and Clearbrook Gonvick 2-0 (25-22, 25-20).  The only blemish the Pirates had in pool play was a 2-0 loss to Warroad (25-20, 25-17).  Crookston received the #2 seed in tournament play and beat Climax-Fisher 2-0 (25-13, 25-16) and in the Championship they got a little revenge by beating Warroad 2-1 (19-25, 28-26, 15-8) at the Crookston Pirate Volleyball Invitational at the Crookston High School.

Crookston vs Bagley-
Crookston got off to a slow start in the first match of the morning but settled in to beat Bagley 25-18.  The second set was a hard-fought 26-24 Pirate victory in a back and forth set from start to finish. “We started pretty slow and a little sluggish,” said Coach Stopa. “We aren’t used to having split courts so it took us a while to get comfortable.  We were pretty aggressive and that helped us win the match.”

Kylie Solheim and Rachel Hefta go for a block

Crookston vs Climax-Fisher-
Crookston started slowly in the match and picked things up as the first set went along and the teams went back and forth, but the Pirates were able to win the set 25-23.  The second set was another back and forth battle with Crookston winning the set 25-22.  “We started slow again,” said Coach Stopa. “We picked it up in the second game and we went on a run, they went on a run, but we were able to finish strong.”

Crookston vs Warroad
The first set was almost like every other set the Pirates had in the first two matches, but they came up on the short end in a 25-20 loss to Warroad.  In the second set, Crookston started with a 4-2 lead and the set was tied at 6-6 when Crookston got a kill from Hailey Seaver, but she came down on the foot of a Warroad player and rolled her ankle and she didn’t return the rest of the day.  Crookston had to adjust to the absence of one of their top players.  Warroad took advantage of the Pirates missing a player and they had three straight kills in a 7-2 run for a 15-10 lead.  Warroad built a 20-14 lead and several points later, #21 had a block/kill for her 1,000th career kill to give Warroad a 24-16 lead.  Crookston scored the next point, but Warroad countered with a kill for a 25-17 victory to win the match 2-0.  “We were aggressive,” said Coach Stopa.  “We didn’t play as well as we could have and that was frustrating, but we have to get ready for the next one.”

Hailey Seaver goes up for a kill in the first Warroad match

Crookston vs Clearbrook-Gonvick
The teams went back and forth to start the set with ties at 1, 2, 3, 6, and 9 before the Pirates used a Dani Boyle kill and two Emma Boll aces to spark a 9-1 run for an 18-10 lead.  Clearbrook-Gonvick battled back and slowly chipped away at the deficit and cut Crookston’s lead to 21-18.  The Pirates settled down and finished strong and won the set on a Rylee Solheim kill for a 25-22 win.
Crookston started the second set on a 15-4 run and might have been a little complacent as Clearbrook-Gonvick battled back to get within a 20-18 deficit.  Once again, Crookston settled down and finished strong to beat the Bears 25-20 to win the match 2-0. “We came out strong and beat a nice team and we had some adversity after losing Seaver to the ankle injury,” said Coach Stopa. “The girls played hard and we had a lot of different girls making plays and that was nice to see.”

Crookston vs Climax-Fisher – Semi-finals
Crookston jumped out to a 13-3 lead behind four Rachel Hefta aces.  The Pirates cruised the rest of the way for a 25-13 victory.  “We came out a little slow after the short break,” said Coach Stopa. “Rachel had a bunch of aces and that got us going.”
In the second set, Crookston trailed 4-3 when they went on a four-point run on a mix kills and Climax-Fisher errors for an 8-4 lead.  Climax-Fisher bounced back to get within two points (12-10), but they hit the serve out of bounds and that led to a Pirate ace on a serve by Kasey Cwikla and a Rachel Hefta kill for a 15-10 lead.  Crookston slowly pulled away the rest of the set and won 25-16 to win the match 2-0 to advance to the championship for a rematch with Warroad.   “We missed some serves in the second set and that hurt us a bit, but we were able to get some nice attacks and eliminated most of our errors.”

Dani Boyle with a dig

Crookston vs Warroad – CHAMPIONSHIP
The teams went back and forth early on with ties at 1, 2, 4, and 8.  Crookston had two errors and that sparked a 5-0 Warroad run for a 13-8 Warrior lead.  Crookston answered with a couple of Jasmin Hanson kills and they trailed 16-13.  That is the closest the Pirates would get as Warroad pulled away for a 25-19 victory to take a 1-0 lead.  “Towards the end we broke down a little bit,” said Coach Stopa. “I thought we started to battle at the end and that carried over to the second set.”

In the second set, Warroad jumped out to an 8-3 lead, but Crookston battled back with three Jasmin Hanson kills and a Sydney Anderson ace and the set was tied at 8-8.  The teams were tied at 9, 10, 11, and 12 before Warroad had a kill and Crookston was in the net two straight points before another Warroad kill and the Warriors led 16-12.  Crookston answered with a point, Sydney Anderson had a kill, and Warroad hit an attack out of bounds and the Pirates trailed by one point (17-16).  Crookston hit the next attack into the net and Warroad added a couple more points and an ace for a 20-15 lead.  Crookston battled back with some nice hustle plays and trailed 22-19 but a serve went into the net and Warroad was two points away from winning the match.  Crookston had a kill in the back corner, Rachel Hefta had a kill, Kasey Cwikla had an ace, Hefta added another kill to tie the set at 23.  Warroad called a timeout, but Hefta followed with another kill to give Crookston a 24-23 lead, serving for set point.  The serve went into the net and the teams were tied at 24.  Crookston set the ball to Hefta after receiving the serve and she had another kill, but Warroad answered with another kill for a tie at 25.  Crookston answered with an Anderson kill to take a 26-25 lead and Rachel Hefta had a huge block for a kill and Crookston won the set 27-25 to force a third set.  “Jasmin Hanson came in for us and she played well and that was nice to see,” said Coach Stopa. “The girls really battled and won a tough set and the win gave us a lot of momentum,”

The third set was tied at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 and then Crookston took over the match with some great hustle plays, a couple kills, a big block and they led 13-8.  Kylie Solheim had a kill at the net and Warroad hit an attack out of bounds and Crookston won the third set 15-8 to win the match and championship 2-1.  “The girls played well today and they fought hard,” said Coach Stopa.  “The girls fought hard all day long and we faced some adversity with injuries and still found a way to get the wins.  I am proud of how the girls played today.”

For Crookston during the Tournament
Kills – Rachel Hefta – 43, Sydney Anderson – 11, Jasmin Hanson – 9
Blocks – Rachel Hefta – 7, Sydney Anderson – 6
Assists – Kylie Solheim – 60
Digs – Dani Boyle – 20, Kylie Solheim – 12, Emma Boll -10
Aces – Sydney Anderson – 6, Hailey Seaver – 4