The Red Lake County Central Mustangs were dominant in the first two sets and came from behind in the third set to beat the Crookston Pirate Volleyball team 3-0 (25-15, 25-7, 25-20) in a match played in Oklee on Thursday.
FIRST SET
RLCC jumped out to a 7-1 lead to start the match with two aces and a kill from Aubrey Halverson, a Keanna Landrus ace, a kill from Avery Nelson and two Pirate attack errors. Crookston settled in and started to battle back after a Mustang serve went into the net and Abi Bruley had a big kill. Cecelia Newquist added a kill, and RLCC hit the ball out of bounds, and the Pirates were within a 9-6 deficit. RLCC responded with four straight points, including a Natalee Hendrickson ace for a 13-6 lead. Crookston tried to cut the deficit down and after a Brynna Kopecky ace, they trailed 15-10. Crookston struggled and had several attack errors mixed with three points from Aaliyah Bramer, an ace from Aubrey Halverson, the Mustangs led 23-15. The next two points were service aces from Alexa Chervestad to win the set 25-15.
SECOND SET
Crookston jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, and it all started with a Morgan Boll kill. RLCC countered with a 10-0 run with two kills from Bramer, a kill and ace from Aubrey Halverson, and a kill by Nelson, and the Mustangs led 10-3. RLCC continued to build on the lead and led 16-7 when they finished the set on a 9-0 run. The run started with a Pirate serve in the net and was followed by a total of four aces from Hendrickson, two kills from Halverson, a klll from Landrus, and the Mustangs won the set on a Halverson kill for a 25-7 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
THIRD SET
The third set was the best of the match, as the teams were tied at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 to start. Crookston took a 12-10 lead on back-to-back kills by Morgan Boll. After a RLCC error, Boll had another kill. A few RLCC errors later, Crookston led 16-10. RLCC battled back to tie the set at 18 behind six Crookston errors. The Mustangs continued to roll as Crookston had two attack errors and a Bramer kill for a 21-18 lead. RLCC served in the net before Bramer had a kill, and Hendrickson served up an ace for a 23-19 lead. Crookston’s Kopecky had a kill before a Pirate serve went into the net, and then they had another attack error, and RLCC won the set 25-20 and the match 3-0.
Crookston drops to 1-7 on the year and will host the Crookston Invitational at the Crookston High School gymnasium on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. RLCC improves to 5-6 on the year.
J.V. – RLCC won 2-0 C-Squad – RLCC won 2-1 (16-14 in the 3rd set)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Crookston | 15 | 7 | 20 |
| RLCC | 25 | 25 | 25 |
For Crookston
Kills – Brynna Kopecky 3, Abi Bruley 3
Blocks – Morgan Boll 2, Addie Schiller 1
Digs – Keatyn Kliner 9, Morgan Boll 7, Leia Parkin 6, Brynna Kopecky 6
Assists- Keatyn Kliner 9
Aces – Brynna Kopecky 1
