PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: SWC sweeps HBC, T-M-B falls to R-T-R

LUVERNE — Amber Pater smashed 15 kills and came up with 15 digs for the Southwest Christian Eagles in a three game sweep of the Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots in the second round of the Section 3A volleyball playoffs Friday.

SWC won 25-16, 25-15 and 25-19 to advance to the sectional quarterfinals Tuesday.

Jennifer Schmidt was second on the team for the Eagles with 14 digs, while Hannah Van Dyke had 35 set assists in the match. Morgan Van Hulsen had 10 kills and Tiana Top rounded out the scoring with nine kills.

Hattie Van Wyhe led the Patriots in both kills (5) and digs (7), while Haley Van Wyhe picked up four kills in the match. Kelli Esselink and Meghan Leuthold had three kills a piece with Paige Leuthold going 12 for 12 on the serve to go along with 13 set assists. Gabrielle Luethje was also perfect on the serve (7 for 7) and Jessica Sandbulte was 6 for 7 on the night.

SWC plays Russell-Tyler Ruthton Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Luverne.

R-T-R 3, T-M-B 0

LUVERNE — Sammie Gervais was a perfect 11 for 11 serving with an ace, 14 digs, six kills and a block for the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Panthers in a loss to Russell-Tyler Ruthton in the second round of the Section 3A volleyball playoffs Friday.

R-T-R swept the match, winning 25-18, 25-17 and 25-21.

Jenna Stoneberg was 8 for 9 on the serve with an ace, three kills and four blocks for the Panthers. Anna Peterson was also 8 for 9 on the serve, while Kassidy Przymus had 14 digs. Kelli Soupir added three kills and 13 digs to go along with 23 set assists by Cassandra Hook.

R-T-R moves on to play Southwest Christian Tuesday in Luverne.

JCC 3, New Ulm 0

JACKSON — Michelle Van Epps had seven digs and 27 set assists to lead the Jackson County Central Huskies past New Ulm in three games Friday in the first round of the Section 3AA volleyball playoffs.

JCC won the games 25-10, 25-20 and 25-11 to get the sweep.

Jasmine Erickson had six kills and six digs to go along with four blocks in the match for the Huskies. Kaylee Burmeister had 10 kills, five digs and four aces as well as going 16 for 16 on the serve. Sydnee Donnelli was 15 for 15 on the serve with an ace and added nine kills to round out the Huskies offense.

With the win, the Huskies move on to the second round and face the Pipestone Area Arrows Tuesday in Jackson. The Arrows defeated Fairmont in three sets Friday in Pipestone.

Windom 3, Luverne 0

WINDOM — Getting a typically well-balanced team performance Friday evening, the second-seeded Windom Eagles advanced in the Section 3AA high school volleyall tournament by sweeping the seventh-seeded Luverne Cardinals.

Game scores were 25-7, 25-8 and 25-16.

A stellar serving performance by the Windom duo of Jasmine Carlson (seven aces on 14-of-16) and Kelsey Hanefeld (five aces on a perfect 16-of-16) helped the Eagles stay in control.

Carlson, the team’s libero, also had a team-leading 15 digs, while Hali Tasler (10 kills, 19-of-19 serving with one ace) contributed 10 digs for Windom’s defense.

Holly Larson was the Eagles’ leading attacker with 13 kills, while also coming with a pair of solo blocks and four block assists.

Shelby Mattson and Sami Petersen each put up 15 set assists for the Eagles and both Hanefeld and Mattson smacked five kills.

Mattson was also an effective blocker (one solo, five assists) for the Eagles who improved to 22-7 for the season and will host third-seeded Worthington Tuesday.

Ellen Dahl was nine-of-nine serving with a trio of aces for Luverne, while Ashlinn Curtis (eight digs) was eight-of-eight at the service line.

Nicole Hoff had six blocks for the Cardinals and Dahl delivered four kills.

Ashley Olson (eight digs, five set assists) and Lexi Rust (nine digs) were also statistical leaders for Luverne.

Tags: southwest christian, hills-beaver creek, jackson county central, tracy-milroy-balaton, sports, prep, volleyball, windom, luverne