Kendal Harpestad (7) returns the volleyball during the opening rounds of the playoffs.

The United South Central girls volleyball team’s season came to an end on Thursday, Oct. 29, when the Rebels lost to the Cleveland Clippers in Section 2A Volleyball Tournament action.

The final score was Cleveland 3, USC 0. The three sets were 25-19, 25-15, 25-16.

“The kids played hard tonight, and I was proud of the effort against a solid Cleveland team,” coach Joe Kuechenmeister said. “While we played well at times, we had too many lapses in serve receive that prevented us from keeping Cleveland out of system and that was ultimately our demise.”

Leading the way for the Rebels was once again Melany Ehlert. She had four kills, five digs and two blocks.

Grace Mithun and Kendal Harpestad each had three kills, while Mithun added four aces and Harpestad three digs and one ace.

Kiera Schulz had two kills, two digs, two blocks and two aces.

Molly Wegner had eight assists and one dig while Eleny Korn had two assists and one kill, and Leah Winch had two digs.

“Huge shout out to our kids who had to step into positions with more responsibility because of illness, injury, and absence,” the coach adds. “Each came ready to play and left it all on the floor.”

Kuechenmeister also said that while it’s never easy to see the end of a season, he can’t say enough good things about this senior class and the dynamic that each of these kids brought to the team and the program.

“They were in each other’s corner throughout the year, and that made every day I got the opportunity to coach them enjoyable,” the coach said.

The Rebels ended the season with a 7-18-1 record, and went 3-8 in the Gopher Conference.