The Crookston Pirates Volleyball Team got off to strong starts in each game, but the Red Lake Falls Lafayette Eagles would finish stronger on their way to a 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-18) victory in a match played at the Crookston High School Gymnasium.
FIRST GAME
Crookston jumped out to a 3-0 lead after a long first point went to the Pirates on a Mallorie Sundeen kill, Libby Salentine ace, and an Eagles net infraction. “We played well right away,” said Crookston Coach Katie Englestad. Red Lake Falls answered right back with a four-point run after four Crookston hitting errors to take their first lead in the match at 4-3. The teams alternated points and were tied at 4, 5, and 6 before Red Lake Falls went on a 9-1 run, highlighted by five Gabby Casavan kills and an ace for Brooklyn Cardinal give the Eagles a 15-7 lead. “I think the girls settled in,” said Red Lake Falls Coach Heidi Rewertz. “We passed well, and Gabby had some nice attacks.” Crookston finally broke the run with three straight points, but the Eagles continued their strong play the rest of the set to win 25-14.
GAME TWO –
Crookston got a good start once again in the second set using a 4-1 run, aided by a nice recovery play finished off by Anna Funk with a kill. “It was another good start,” said Coach Englestad. “But we couldn’t keep it going.” The Eagles used a similar formula in the second set to take back the lead with Cardinal and Casavan serving their way to a 12-6 Red Lake Falls lead. Crookston looked to get back into the set after a sneaky tap on the second hit from Libby Salentine, and a Hannah Loraas kill to get them within 14-9. However, Red Lake Falls benefitted from Pirate misplays and three more Casavan kills as well as the final point coming on an Emma Knott kill to give the Eagles another 25-14 set victory. “We stayed aggressive the entire way,” said Eagle Coach Rewertz. “We continued to attack and find the open spots and that was nice to see.”
GAME THREE
Crookston took a quick lead in the third set behind some miscues from the Eagles, an Anna Funk ace, and a Loraas kill to gain a 7-2 lead. “We had good starts in all three games,” said Crookston Coach Englestad. “But something just clicks off and we don’t keep playing as well as we start. We go out and we are leading or tied and about seven or eight something clicks off.” Just like in the first two sets, Red Lake Falls came back strong and took the lead with an 8-0 run. They did it with kills from Gabi Casavan and a couple of aces from Kiara Sauve. “We work on our serving every day and it was nice to see our servers being aggressive and hitting their spots,” said Eagle Coach Rewertz. Over the next 17 points, neither team made a strong push to create separation with the team’s trading off one or two points at a time with the Eagles maintaining a three-point lead at 17-14. That is when the Eagles began to make a push for a three-set victory. Once again, Casavan was the leading force for the Eagles with two more kills and she got some help from Greta Philipp who added two more kills, and Savanna Nelson added a kill on the Eagles 8-4 set-ending run. Red Lake Falls won the third set 25-18 to win the match 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-18). “We played really well tonight. We started a little slow in each game but finished strong and that was nice to see,” said Eagle acting co-head coach Heidi Rewertz. “It was a good team effort with our passing, setting, and attacking. The girls played well, they proved themselves tonight.”
Crookston falls to 1-3 this season and will next be in action on Thursday when they go to Sacred Heart in a match you can listen to on KROX.
Red Lake Falls gets their first win this season to improve to 1-2. They will host Warren/Alvarado/Oslo on Thursday.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Red Lake Falls | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Crookston | 14 | 14 | 18 |
For Crookston
Kills – Mallorie Sundeen- 6, Ally Perreault- 3
Assists – Anna Funk- 5, Libby Salentine- 4
Digs – Breanna Kressin- 30, Rylee Solheim – 7, Libby Salentine – 6
Blocks – Mallorie Sundeen- 2
Aces – Anna Funk, Libby Salentine, Mallorie Sundeen- 1 each
For Red Lake Falls
Kills – Gabi Casavan- 14, Lexi Swendra- 4, Greta Philipp- 3, Kiara Sauve – 3
Assists – Brooklyn Cardinal- 23
Digs – Alexis Cota- 12, Kiara Sauve – 12
Blocks – Kiara Sauve – 2
Aces – Brooklyn Cardinal- 2, Gabi Casavan – 2, Kiara Sauve -2
