JACKSON -- After winning Games 1 and 2 in impressive fashion Tuesday night, the Jackson County Central Huskies won a tight third set to sweep the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers in a non-conference volleyball match, 25-13, 25-13 and 25-21.
JCC (ranked seventh in Class AA) is now 24-1 on the season, with its only loss coming to Worthington on September 18. The Huskies are 3-1 in the Southwest Conference, with remaining league games against Luverne Thursday and at Marshall (5-0 conference mark) next Tuesday.
"We have a really great group of girls who love to play volleyball," JCC head coach Teresa VanEpps said after the match. "We have had a tremendous season so far, and we performed very well again tonight."
The Huskies got things started with a 7-0 run early in Game 1, increasing a 3-2 edge into a 10-2 advantage.
Chelsey Mitchell (17-for-17 serving) was at the service line for six of those points, knocking down a pair of aces to help spark the Huskies' surge. Briel Hendricksen slammed a pair of kills from the left side in that stretch, while Erika Voss had a kill in the middle, and Whitney Burmeister scored on an ace block.
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Blue Earth (11-5, 8-0 South Central Conference) later trimmed the gap to five points (11-6), but another burst by the Huskies -- this time a 10-2 run -- made it 21-8 (tied for JCC's largest lead of the night).
Brooke Burmeister (17-for-19 serving with two aces, nine kills, eight digs) cracked a trio of kills in that span, while Whitney Burmeister (five kills, three ace blocks) served an ace and fed Hendricksen for a kill.
Hendricksen (14 kills, seven digs, three ace blocks) and Stacey Schuller (12-for-13 serving with three aces, 16 set assists, eight digs) also had a service ace apiece to help JCC widen its lead.
Abby Moses (four ace blocks, three kills) and Whitney Burmeister each had a kill to help JCC close out the 12-point victory, and the Huskies gained a 7-3 lead to start Game 2.
Jasmine Timko (13 set assists) had a pair of ace serves, and Hendricksen put down three kills to trigger that fast start for the Huskies, but Blue Earth rallied with seven consecutive points to take a 10-7 lead.
Kate Hassing was serving during Blue Earth's run, while Sydney Ristau scored twice on a kill and an ace block.
JCC scored five of the next seven points to pull the score even at 12 before continuing that spurt to build another commanding lead.
Brooke Burmeister's kill and Schuller's ace serve started a 13-1, game-ending eruption that included 11 straight points to end the set with JCC again winning by 12.
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Voss (six kills, two ace blocks) had three kills and an ace block in that sequence, while Brooke Burmeister served a pair of aces, and Hendricksen scored on a kill, an ace tip and an ace block to fuel the Huskies.
"That was another nice stretch of volleyball for us," VanEpps said. "We were doing everything well, from getting touches on Blue Earth's hits and digging balls up to making the pass to the setter and having a balanced offensive attack."
Game 3 was tight the entire way, as neither team had a lead of more than two points until the Huskies scored the final five to earn a four-point victory.
Hassing and Danika Stindtman each had a kill to help Blue Earth early in the game, as the Buccaneers held a slim lead throughout the initial 20 side-outs.
JCC took an 11-10 edge on a kill from Moses and continued to lead until Blue Earth gained advantages of 18-17, 20-18 and 21-20.
Then, after the Huskies scored to tie it at 21, Timko closed out the victory with a four-point service run. Whitney Burmeister scored the first two points on an ace block and a kill, while Hendricksen and Schuller each had an ace tip for the game's final points.
Mollie McClure had two kills and four ace blocks for JCC, while Courtney Donnelli came up with four digs.
