The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team hosted the Sacred Heart Eagles on Thursday night from inside the Crookston High School gymnasium. The Eagles were too much for the Pirates, winning the match in three sets (25-16, 25-17, 25-12).
First Set
The teams traded a few points early on resulting in an early 5-5 tie. The Eagles would start to find a rhythm and score nine of the next eleven points to take a 14-7 lead. Crookston would gain a little momentum back themselves with back-to-back aces from Mckenzie Funk and pull back within five points at 16-11. The Eagles would cruise the rest of the way, however, led by Avery Horken who had 5 kills in the set. Sacred Heart would score nine of the last fourteen points and claim the first set 15-16 after a service error from the Pirates.
Second Set
Much like the first set, the teams traded points back and forth before the Eagles scored four straight to take a 7-3 lead. Crookston continued to struggle to handle the big hitters for Sacred Heart, and the Eagles eventually hit their way to a 15-8 lead. After a few more points back and forth, the Pirates would close the gap down to 21-14 with the service, but the Eagles would score the next two points to go ahead 23-14. The Pirates showed no quit, scoring three straight points including a kill by McKenzie Funk, but Sacred Heart would settle down and score the next two points to claim the set 25-17, and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Third Set
Sacred Heart once again got off to a good start in the third set pulling ahead 6-3 thanks in part to two kills by Ava Knudson. The Eagles again slowly built up their lead to 12-6 and continued to create problems for Crookston. They would slowly pull away in the final set, and score the last four points in the match for a 25-12 third set win and three set victory.
Crookston falls to 0-5 on the season and will host Thief River Falls next Tuesday. The match will get underway at 7:15 p.m. and will be on KROX and the KROX Live stream starting with the RiverView Health pregame show at 6:45 p.m. Sacred Heart improves to 3-2 on the year with the win.
FOR PIRATES COACH KATIE ENGELSTAD’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
FOR EAGLES COACH EMILY VONASEK’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Sacred Heart | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| CROOKSTON | 16 | 17 | 12 |
For CROOKSTON
Kills – Mackenzie Funk- (4), Libby Salentine- (2)
Blocks – Destiny Goulet-Ramirez- (2), Mackenzie Funk- (1)
Digs – Dani Kresl- (19), Hannah Brouse- (7), Anna Funk, Libby Salentine- (5)
Assists – Anna Funk- (5), Libby Salentine- (3)
Aces – Mackenzie Funk- (2)
For Sacred Heart
Kills – Avery Horken- (14), Emma Anvinson- (8), Ella Adolphson- (6)
Blocks – Finley Horken, Avery Horken, Ella Adolphson- (1 each)
Digs – Haley Vonasek- (5), Avery Horken- (3), Finley Horken- (2)
Assists – Finley Horken- (18), Ella Adolphson- (11)
Aces – Ella Adolphson- (4), Finley Horken- (2)
