The Red Lake Falls Eagles got off to a bad start and lost the first set after trailing 20-4, but they bounced back to win the next three matches to beat the Crookston Pirate Volleyball team 3-1 (11-25, 25-21, 25-22, 26-24) in a Section 8A matchup played in Crookston.
FIRST SET –
Crookston had a great start and jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set by taking advantage of four Red Lake Falls errors. Red Lake Falls had three straight hitting errors, and Kasey Cwikla followed with back-to-back aces for a 9-2 lead. Crookston continued to cruise the rest of the way and took a 20-4 lead. “We were playing with some excitement and were talking and came out strong,” said Crookston Coach Ashley Stopa. “We worked hard on spot setting and being aggressive and it showed.” Red Lake Falls started to pick up their play with some subtle attacks from Gabby Casavan and Sienna Olson to get within a 23-11 deficit. Crookston finished strong with a Kasey Cwikla kill and had the set winning point after a scramble to get the ball across and Red Lake Falls wasn’t able to play the ball, and the Pirates won 25-11. “We came out slow and you have to give Crookston credit they came out ready to play,” said Red Lake Falls Coach Nikki Gullingsrud. “The girls took a good chewing out and responded at the end.”
SECOND SET –
Red Lake Falls jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set behind a kill from Casavan and two kills from Olson. “They set the tone right away,” said Coach Stopa. “That seemed to carry over the rest of the match.” Crookston battled back to tie the set at 7-7 without recording a kill, but Emma Boll served up one ace in the run. Crookston continued their run and took an 18-12 lead after kills from Dani Boyle, Libby Salentine, and an ace from Mallorie Sundeen. Once again, Red Lake Falls battled back to tie the set at 21 while taking advantage of four points off Crookston miscommunication. “That is something that we can work on,” said Coach Stopa. “We quit talking and that hurt us in the match.” The Eagles continued to roll the rest of the set and finished with a kill from Kia McGlynn and back-to-back kills by Gabby Casavan for a 25-21 victory to tie the match at 1-1. “Volleyball is a game of runs and we did a better job of going on a run and limiting Crookston’s runs,” said RLF Coach Gullingsrud. “Those kills at the end were big and Gabby can hit the ball and she was smart with her placement.”
THIRD SET –
The match was tight from the beginning, and the teams were tied six times. Crookston trailed 12-9 when they went on a 6-0 run behind two Dani Boyle service aces and after a Cwikla kill the Pirates led 15-12. Crookston continued to build on their lead and took an 18-13 lead before the hit into the net and gave Red Lake Falls a spark. The Eagles followed with a couple Olson kills, and a Shelby Breiland ace and on an Olson block they tied the set at 19. Crookston regained the lead with two Cwikla aces for a 22-20 lead only to have Red Lake Falls end the set on a 5-0 run with an ace from Shawna Larson, a Clara Girdler kill and after the Pirates hit into the net Kia McGlynn had a kill at the net for a 25-22 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match. “We have been trying to play with more confidence and we did that tonight,” said RLF Coach Gullingsrud. “They finished strong again and it was nice to see different girls coming up with big plays.”
FOURTH SET –
Red Lake Falls jumped out to a 4-1 lead ad slowly built a six-point lead several times throughout the set. Crookston battled back to tie the set at 22 when Red Lake Falls hit out of bounds and into the net on back-to-back points. The teams were tied again at 23 and 24 when McGlynn served an ace and Olson had a block at the net to give Red Lake Falls a 26-24 victory to win the match 3-1. “We hit too many into the net and had too many errors,” said Coach Stopa. “You could tell it was the first day of school.”
Crookston drops to 1-2 on the year and will travel to Sacred Heart (who just beat Ada-Borup 3-0) on Thursday. Red Lake Falls improves to 1-2 on the year and will play Warren-Alvarado-Oslo on Thursday.
J.V. – Crookston won 2-1 C squad – Red Lake Falls won 2-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Red Lake Falls | 11 | 25 | 25 | 26 |
| Crookston | 25 | 21 | 22 | 24 |
For Crookston –
Kills – Kasey Cwikla – 6, Rylee Solheim, Emma Boll and Dani Boyle with 3 each
Blocks – Kasey Cwikla – 7, Jasmin Hanson – 3
Assists – Emily Funk – 10
Digs – Danielle Boyle – 14
Aces – Kasey Cwikla – 5, Emily Funk – 4
For Red Lake Falls –
Kills – Gabby Casavan – 10, Sienna Olson – 10
Assists – Brooklyn Cardinal – 20
Digs – Clara Girdler – 17, Hollie Knott – 14
Aces – Shawna Larson, Kia McGlynn and Clara Girdler with 2 each
