Morgan Dickman goes up high for the ball in a game against the St. Peter Saints. To see more photographs of this event, log on to http://cu.faribaultcountyregister.com

The defending South Central Conference champion Blue Earth Area Buccaneers began the defense of their volleyball title with a win against the visiting St. Peter Saints Tuesday evening.

Although the Bucs won the match by winning all three games, the victory was not an easy one.

Game 1 saw the Saints take an early 8-3 lead before the Bucs began their comeback. They tied the game at 9 and then began to pull away. With the score 19-14 in favor of the Bucs, Ashley Olson came to the service line and served the final 6 points to give BEA a 25-14 win.

St. Peter came back strong in the second game and took control to build an 11-point lead at 16-5. Like the little engine that could from the famous children’s story, the Bucs didn’t give up. They pulled to within six, trailing 18-12, when Jenny Smith took over serving. The Bucs closed the gap to 18-17, before St. Peter got a side out to take a two-point lead.

The Bucs finally pulled into a tie at 20 each. The teams would also be tied at 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25. St. Peter served for the game victory twice at 24-23 and 25-24. An Olson spike pulled the Bucs into a tie at 25 and Smith served for the final two points and the 27-25 victory.

Charlotte Haugh goes up high for the ball in a game against the St. Peter Saints. To see more photographs of this event, log on to http://cu.faribaultcountyregister.com

It appeared that game three would be different as the Bucs took the early lead. This time it was the Saints who battled back to forge an 11-11 tie. It was a back and forth battle the rest of the game as the lead changed many times. With Smith serving and the Bucs trailing 23-22, Maddie McDonald came up with a big spike to knot the game at 23 and the Bucs scored the final two points for the 25-23 win.

“The girls are getting more comfortable with each other on the court and with their versatile style of play,” says coach Donna Nawrocki.

Smith led the team with 17 digs followed by Olson and Morgan Dickman with 10 and nine respectively. Kate Hassing led the way at the net with nine kills followed by Olson and Sydney Ristau with six each.

Olson tallied 13 set assists and Dickman had 11.

The Bucs got 70 of 74 serves in, with Smith going 20 for 20 and getting credit for 14 points and two aces. Olson was 14 of 16 serving for 11 points and four aces.

The victory gives the Bucs an overall record of 2-1 and 1-0 in the conference.