The Buccaneer volleyball team will advance on in Section play after Thursday’s win against the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Panthers.

The two teams played a quick three-game match which the Bucs came out on top 3-0.

The first game allowed BEA to start off on the right foot by gaining the first point.

The teams rallied for points, keeping the score rather close in the beginning.

A serve by Krista Hassing hit the net and gave NRHEG a point, tying the score 5-5.

The ball was in the Panthers possession but that didn’t last long as their first serve sailed out of bounds.

Again, the teams had some back and forth scoring, before a hit by Janessa Jahnke seemed to break the spell.

The momentum of the game eventually shifted in favor of the home team with a score of 16-8.

They continued to stay in the lead for several points until the Panthers blocked a hit at the net and regained possession of the ball, putting the score at 22-13.

Several serving errors by the Bucs allowed the Panthers to close the gap in the score, 24-17.

The Bucs coach called a timeout before the team returned to the court to play for game point.

The game winning point was Hassing going in for a hit which the other team attempted to block. The ball landed out of bounds and the game went to the Bucs, 25-19.

In the beginning of the second game, the Panthers got the initial lead.

The Bucs didn’t allow that to last long when they tied it up at 5-5. Then Whitney Pirsig and Jahnke blocked a hit by NRHEG at the net and snuck into the lead.

It was several strong hits by the maroon and gold team that sent them into a strong lead.

A hit attempt made by NRHEG that landed just out of bounds is what gave BEA the win in the second game, which ended with the same score as the first game, 25-19.

The BEA ?volleyball team needed to win the third game in order to win the match and advance on in Sub-section play.

Audrey McDonald started off the third game strong with two hits in a row followed by an ace serve, putting them in the lead 4-1.

The Panthers tried to catch up and an ace serve tied them up with the Bucs, 5-5.

BEA broke the tie and stayed in the lead for some time, but two hits by the Bucs landed out and tied the game back up at 10-10.

A little later on down the line, it was two hits by the Panthers that landed out and gave the home team the momentum they needed to finish out strong.

A kill by Jahnke put the score at 24-18. The Panthers attempted to hit the ball but was blocked at the net.

The game was won by BEA 25-18.

Jahnke had 12 kills for the Bucs as well as 10 digs and three ace blocks. She also went 10 of 11 serving, accounting for seven points and three aces.

Hassing finished the night with 10 kills, seven digs and eight ace blocks.

Monica Krieger had 25 set assists. She also went 16 for 16 at the service line, with eight points and one ace.

McDonald had four kills. She also went 12 of 13 at the service line, scoring seven points and one ace.

Ashton Hendricksen had 10 digs and Pirsig had one ace block.

This win puts the team’s overall record at 21-9.

The Bucs will face the LeSueur Henderson Giants on Tuesday at Mankato East at 6 p.m.

LeSueur Henderson is the top seeded team; they played against the Maple River Eagles Thursday night and won 3-0.

Whichever team wins on Tuesday will advance on in the Sub-section playoffs, playing again on Thursday, Nov. 1, at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Windom 3, BEA 0

The Blue Earth Area volleyball team took a break from conference play before sections and traveled to Windom for a match.

The Bucs played the Eagles last Monday, where the Eagles won the shut-out match. The games ended, 25-13, 25-13 and 25-13.

Monica Krieger led the team with 13 set assists.

Leading the team in kills was Krista Hassing with 10. She also had eight digs and three ace blocks.

Janessa Jahnke had five kills and seven digs.

Ashton Hendrickson had eight digs and one ace block, and Whitney Pirsig also had one ace block.

Audrey McDonald had a perfect 6 of 6 at the service line with one ace.

BEA’s loss against Windom puts their current overall record at 20-9.