Madison Passer goes high to attempt a kill shot against the Maple River Eagles on Sept. 20.

The USC Rebels volleyball team played host to the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Panthers in volleyball action on Tuesday night, Sept. 20.

The Rebels played well with solid passing and a scrappy defense on their way to a 25-20 victory in set one.

USC rallied from a deficit in the second set but came up short in a 25-22 win for the Panthers.

NRHEG remained unbeaten in Gopher Conference action when they downed USC 25-12 and 25-9 in the next two sets.

“I thought our kids battled extremely well in sets one and two,” USC coach Joe Kuechenmeister said. “It was nice to see us rebound after a tough outing against Maple River the previous night.”

Leading the Rebels were Kiera Schultz with 10 kills, five digs, two blocks and three aces. Kendal Harpestad added nine kills, 12 digs and one block. Chloe Lutteke finished with eight kills and two digs.

Maple River 3, USC 0

The Maple River Eagles hosted their inaugural volleyball match at their new school facility and defeated the Rebels 27-17, 25-19, 25-15.

“It was just one of those nights,” USC coach Joe Kuechenmeister commented. “We struggled to find our rhythm in almost every facet of our game, which is something we have not seen all year. I credit Maple River’s defensive game plan for a lot of our frustration. They picked up everything we threw at them and found the holes in our defense.”

Kiera Schultz led USC with six kills. She also had seven digs, one block and one ace.

Kendal Harpestad finished with five kills, 10 digs, one block and one ace. Madison Passer tallied five kills and two aces.

Eleny Korn led the team with 11 assists.

USC 3, St. Clair 2

It took all five sets, but the USC Rebels came home with their first win of the season when they triumphed over the St. Clair Cyclones on Thursday, Sept. 15. The scores were 21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 24-26, 15-5.

After dropping the first set, the Rebels battled back to win the second and third sets and were looking to put the match away with a win in the fourth set.

USC came close but lost the fourth set in overtime, 26-24 which set the match to the fifth and deciding set.

The Rebels controlled the final set and put up a winning score of 15-5 to claim their first victory of the year.

“I was proud of the way the kids battled to get the first victory on a night which was filled with plenty of emotion,” Kuechenmeister said. “Things were not always easy, but I was impressed with the leadership and poise of our upperclassmen.”

Kiera Schultz had a good all-around night with 17 kills, 12 digs, three blocks and one ace.

Kendal Harpestad recorded 13 kills, 10 digs and one ace.

Chloe Lutteke and Madison Passer both played well with each player recording seven kills and seven digs.

Eleny Korn finished with 37 assists, two digs, two kills and one ace.