Lindsey Norman, No. 8, prepares to strike during the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers’ 3-0 sweep of the New Ulm?Eagles Tuesday. Norman, whose sister, Alissa, recorded her 1,000th career set assist in September, was in and out of the lineup due to an injury. Blue Earth as a whole was up and down this week, falling in a last-minute decision to Fairmont on Thursday to drop to 10-4.

It does not get much closer than it did Thursday night, when the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers came within two game-five points of downing rival Fairmont on the Cardinals’ own court.

Amidst roaring crowds, the Bucs cruised to victory in the first bout of Big South Conference action, topping the Cards 25-20. But two straight Fairmont wins swung momentum the opposite direction, and after trading back-and-forth shots in the evening’s final clash, BEA suffered perhaps its most climactic loss of the season, a 17-15 decision that barely kept the maroon and gold from a second consecutive win over the Cards this year.

“Fairmont was the better team tonight,” Bucs coach Donna Nawrocki said. “They played better, communicated better, and we fought hard, but we came out flat early on.”

Coming off their opening-game win, sealed by a Kaylor Jacobs kill, the Bucs actually began their second matchup with the Cardinals on a hot streak, scoring with the offensive tandem of Alissa and Lindsey Norman and jumping out to a 6-3 lead.

Several mishandled serves and a few spikes into their own net, however, allowed Fairmont to claw back into the game. A late comeback attempt by the Bucs fell short, and the 25-22 decision in game two carried over into the next round, in which the Cards rolled to a 25-20 victory.

With Sidney Blair, Brittany Johnson and Ryanne Klabunde seeing more playing time for BEA as the night wore on, the maroon and gold retook control of the match in game three, breaking free from one-point deficits and ultimately scoring seven unanswered points to win 25-16.

But the final showdown of the evening tipped in Fairmont’s favor.

With BEA up 9-6, a Bucs kill was wiped away by a call to replay the serve, prompted by an accidental buzzer that was sounded during play. But the maroon and gold still fought to maintain a lead, knotting the contest at 14 and 15 to stay alive.

Needing a two-point margin to win, however, they could not withstand Fairmont’s own serves late in game five, and their hopes for a sixth conference win were dashed.

BEA 3, New Ulm 0

Samantha Barslou and the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers made sure the Eagles did not soar Tuesday night.

Barslou racked up 17 kills, including four crucial strikes in a game-one victory for the Bucs, and BEA trampled over the visiting New Ulm volleyball team for a 3-0 sweep and another “W” in the Big South Conference.

The victory, BEA’s 10th in 13 matches to start the year, saw the maroon and gold take games of 26-24, 25-19 and 25-23, respectively.

Barslou got the Bucs rolling early on, logging several kills on shots to the corner of the court, and after a back-and-forth start, extended the team’s lead over New Ulm to five points.

The Eagles crept back into the game after some misjudged digs by BEA, and another strike by Barslou went just out of bounds to tie the contest at 24. One Buc point later, and it was guess who Barslou who sealed BEA’s first-game win with a light tap over the net.

In game two, the Buccaneers leaned on their defense, riding kills from Maddi Oelke and Lindsey Norman, who was in and out of the lineup as she recovers froman injury, to outlast the Eagles, 25-19.

“I was much more impressed with the team defense and the coverage on our hits,” BEA coach Donna Nawrocki said. “We were much improved, and it showed.”

Still, the Bucs made things interesting in the third game of the night, falling behind 6-2 in the early goings and handing New Ulm several points off missed serves.

But, with Norman rejoining her sister, Alissa, on the court for much of the action and the Oelke-Barslou duo stepping up once more, the home team plowed its way back into contention and never looked back from a lead after a 9-9 tie.

Another Barslou kill put the Bucs up 24-23 late in the showdown, and after New Ulm set the ball into its own side of the net, the evening wrapped up with a third straight BEA win.

Outside of Barslou’s 17 kills, Oelke recorded eight for the Bucs vs. New Ulm, while Alissa Norman spearheaded the offense with 33 set assists.