DIGGING SPIKES — Fairmont’s Ava Rodning fields a hard spike and bumps the volleyball forward during Big South Conference action against New Ulm on Tuesday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont. Cardinal teammate Mariah Moeller backs up the play. New Ulm went on to capture a 3-1 decision in the match. (Photo by Greg Abel)
FAIRMONT — New Ulm setter Mackenzie Enter did it all in the Eagles’ 25-9, 25-23, 16-25, 25-12 volleyball win over the Fairmont Cardinals in a Big South Conference East Division contest on Tuesday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont.
Enter dished out 21 set assists, made three digs and served a perfect 25-of-25 with four aces to propel the Eagles to the four-game league win.
“We really played well the first and fourth games, but fell asleep in the middle two,” New Ulm head coach Christine Skoglund said.
“The girls fight and play hard, but they need to find a way to finish,” Fairmont head coach Liz Lowry said. “We ran out of gas after the third game. The girls play hard and fight for every point.
“We get a day to practice and work on some things before we host St. James Area Thursday.”
New Ulm came out on fire in Game 1, grabbing an early double-digit lead and pouring it on.
Fairmont regrouped and was neck-and-neck with New Ulm. Game 2 was tied 17-all before Ava Rodning served two points, including an ace, to put the Cardinals ahead 19-17.
The Eagles were able to get a sideout to cut their deficit to one point.
The Cardinals were ahead 23-22, but the Eagles scored the game’s final three points to regain momentum and take a 2-0 lead.
The Cardinals played their best all-around game in Game 3. Miller had a majority of her nine kills in that game. Teammates Ellie Ortega, Nevaeh Rahm, Grace Pendergast and Mariah Moeller helped with kills and solid defensive play at the net and in the back row as the Cardinals cruised to an easy nine-point victory to force a fourth game.
Game 4 was all New Ulm as Enter served back-to-back-to-back aces early in the game as the Eagles wouldn’t fall asleep in this game.
New Ulm’s Enter served six straight points as the Eagles jumped out to a 7-2 lead in Game 4. They raced out to a double-digit lead,19-9.
Fairmont’s serve on the final point was too long, sending the Eagles to the victory.
For New Ulm, Afton Hulke had nine kills and Alexa Barstad finished with six.
For Fairmont, Miller had nine kills, while Rahm, Ortega and Meredith Nemmers had four kills apiece. Pendergast finished with 16 set assists and Ortega had seven.
VOLLEYBALL
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Pendergast was 17-of-18 serving, while Miller was 14-of-15 serving with one ace to lead the Cardinals. Rodning was 10-of-11 with one ace for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals’ defense was busy. Rahm had seven solo blocks, while Miller had 25 digs and Mariah Moeller had 23 digs. Ortega and Meredith Nemmers had 18 and 11 digs, respectively.
The Eagles (6-4) plays host to Jackson County Central at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night in Jackson in another conference match.
The Cardinals (2-9) play host to St. James Area at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night.
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Martin County West 3, Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman 1 — The Mavericks’ offensive duo of Emily Anderson and Maddie Carlson produced 11 and eight kills, respectively, to down the Jaguars in Valley Conference action on Tuesday in Trimont.
Emily Schettler finished with a team-best 16 set assists for MCW.
For the Jaguars, Madisen Lewis and Londyn Bowers had 6 and 5 kills, respectively, while Keira Benck and Lindsey Diegnau finished with 13 and 11 set assists, respectively.
The Mavericks’ defense of Courtney Anderson and Emily Anderson helped pace the win. Courtney had 16 digs and and Emily had 13. The Anderson duo also served well. Courtney was 12-of-13 and Emily was 10-of-11.
For the Jaguars, Lewis was a perfect 13-of-13 with three acces, and Diegnau served 19-of-22 with one ace.
The Jaguars (4-8) travel to Mankato Thursday to play Loyola at the Fitzgerald Campus at 7 p.m.
The Mavericks (7-10) travel to Lake Crystal to battle Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial at 7 p.m. Thursday night in a Valley Conference match.
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St. James Area 3, Blue Earth Area 0 — The Saints came away with a 25-17, 25-23, 25-9 Big South Conference East Division win over the Bucs on Tuesday night in St. James.
For the Bucs, Tailor Douglas finished with a team-best 4 kills, followed by Kyla Roiger and Hailey Becker with three apiece. Becker also had 12 set assists.
Kylee Eckmann finished a perfect 8-of-8 serving with one ace, while Berkley Hagedorn served 9-of-11 with one ace to lead BEA.
Defensively for BEA, Taylor Klabunde had 16 digs and Becker had eight.
The Bucs (2-4) host St. Peter at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, and the Saints (2-5) travel to Fairmont for a 7:30 p.m. tilt. on Thursday.
