Kendal Harpestad, above, has a big smile as she celebrates getting a point against the Martin County West Mavericks last Monday night, Oct. 25.

The United South Central Rebel volleyball team got a big win last Monday night, Oct. 25, when they downed the Martin County West Mavericks 3-1 in the opening round match of the Section 2A playoffs.

The Rebels were the No. 8 seed, while MCW was seeded at No. 9.

“Great team win for our kids, especially to rally back from a set down in a pressure situation like the Section 2A playoffs,” coach Joe Kuechenmeister said. “We knew going in that it was going to be a battle as both teams were pretty evenly matched, but we were able to win the serve/serve receive battle after the first set and that proved the difference for us tonight.”

Scores of the match were 22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-21.

Leading the way for the Rebels was Melany Ehlert who had 18 kills, seven digs and one assist. Kendal Harpestad had nine kills, four digs and two blocks.

Kyllah Curry and Kiera Schultz each had seven kills. Curry also had four digs, one block and three aces. Schultz had three digs and five blocks.

Eleny Korn had 26 assists, two digs and one kill, while Molly Wegner had 12 assists and one ace.

Alix Bushlack added two kills and two blocks, Leah Winch had three digs and Lexis Kaupa had two digs.

“I credit some of the kids that came off of the bench and gave us a spark tonight,” coach Kuechenmeister said. “Erika Johannsen has been a serving specialist for us all season, but she was called upon to play three backrow rotations for the last three sets and she handled that really well. Ella Kayser and Alix Bushlack both came on in the middle in the absence of Hannah Meyer and did some good things, and freshman setter Eleny Korn stepped in and got our offense flowing more consistently.”

The coach also gave a big shout out to senior Melany Ehlert who continued her offensive and defensive onslaught despite only standing five-foot-four.

“She’s really wrapping up her career at the peak of her game and that’s been fun to see,” the Rebels mentor commented.

With the win the Rebels have earned the opportunity to take on the No. 1 seed in the Sub-Section, the Cleveland Clippers. That matchup was set for Thursday, Oct. 28, in Cleveland.

“While we know Cleveland is a good outfit, we feel we’ve competed well against conference teams of their same caliber, and we look forward to the challenge,” Kuechenmeister said.

The Rebels are 7-17-1 for the season.

WEM-3, USC 0

The United South Central volleyball team struggled in their last match of the regular season when they lost 3-0 to the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers.

The scores of the three games were 25-13, 25-12, 25-19.

USC finished the regular season with a 6-17-1 record and were 3-8 in the Gopher Conference.

Against the Bucs, Kyllah Curry led the Rebels with five kills, seven digs, one block and two aces.

Melany Ehlert had four kills and 14 digs. Kendal Harpestad had two kills, six digs, one block and one ace.

Kiera Schultz, Hannah Meyer and Lexis Kaupa each had one kill. In addition, Schultz had one dig and two blocks, Meyer had one block and Kaupa had one dig.

Molly Wegner had 13 set assists and six digs, while Leah Winch had three digs and Lexi Johnson had one dig.

The Rebels were slated to start Section 2A play this past Monday when they were hosting Martin County West.