Jaelyn Stangler, above, looks to hit the ball between two Cyclone defenders. USC fell behind when they lost the first two games but rebounded to win the third game. St. Clair won the fourth game to win the match.

St. Clair 3, USC 1

The games were close, but in the end the United South Central girls volleyball team fell to St. Clair by a score of 3-1 on Monday night, Sept. 11.

The Rebels stayed close in each match, and won the third one after losing the first two. Scores were 25-21, 25-19, 20-25, 25-19.

USC took an early 8-4 lead in the first game only to watch their advantage slip away and have St. Clair forge a 9-9 tie. The score was tied at 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 17 before the Cyclones pulled away to win by four points.

The Rebels fell behind early in the second game, tied the game at 7-7 and then saw the Cylcones take a 17-12 lead before USC mounted a rally.

Trailing 19-16, USC’s Elizabeth Meyer tipped the ball over the net to cut St. Clair’s lead to 19-17. Eleny Korn stepped to the service line for the Rebels and two points later the game was tied 19-19.

Just when it seemed the momentum had swung in the Rebels’ favor, the Cyclones tallied six consecutive points to take the second game 25-19.

Although USC came back to win the third game 25-20, St. Clair closed out the contest with a 25-19 triumph in the fourth game.

“Not a good outing for us,” coach Joe Kuechenmeister said. “We struggled to find any sort of a rhythm all night. I credit St. Clair for playing a cleaner match than we did, and that’s ultimately why they got the ‘W’ tonight.”

Kiera Schultz again led the Rebels with 12 kills, 12 digs, two blocks, one ace and one assist. Kendal Harpestad had nine kills, 10 digs and one ace.

Elizabeth Meyer added five kills, two digs and one ace while Madison Passer had four kills and four digs.

“Several kids saw the floor for us while we were trying to find a combo that would work, and I credit them for coming in and trying to light a spark,” the coach added. “That’s not always easy to do, and it was a great fight by the crew who was able to pull out set 3.”

Jaelyn Stangler had two kills, Macy Sonnek one kill, Antoinette Dickson had one kill and one dig, Chloe Lutteke had four digs and a one block and MacKenzie Roberts had one dig and three aces.

Eleny Korn had eight digs, 28 assists and one ace. In addition, Karly Koehler had six digs and one ace and Riley Getchell had one dig.

“We’ve got to demand a higher level from ourselves than we put forth tonight, though, period, if we want to compete in the Gopher Conference,” the Rebels’ coach concluded.

USC is now 1-3 (0-1 Gopher) and the Rebels were set to play New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva the very next night, Tuesday, Sept. 12.

K-W 3, USC 0

Although they came close in all three games, the United South Central girls volleyball team fell 3-0 to Kenyon-Wanamingo on Thursday, Sept. 7.

Scores were 25-18, 25-21, 25-17.

“We had moments of sharp play tonight, matched with too many where we gave up 3-4 quick points and that was ultimately our undoing against a good Kenyon-Wanamingo team,” coach Joe Kuechenmeister said. “When we were good, we were good, but you just can’t afford to gift away points to an athletic team.”

Kiera Schultz again led the Rebels as she had seven kills, five digs and two blocks. Jaelyn Stangler adds five kills and two blocks.

“I credit KW’s serving as they put us out of system quite often, which caused us to send over several free opportunities,” Kuechenmiester said. “Getting more swings is huge for us. The ticket to raising our level will be our consistent commitment to defense.”

Other stats showed Kendal Harpestad with two kills, five digs and two blocks, Madison Passer with one kill and three digs, and Eleny Korn with 11 assists.

Macy Sonnek added one kill and two digs, Karly Koehler four digs and one ace, Chloe Lutteke two digs and two aces, Clare Kruse two assists and one ace and Antoinette Dickson one dig.

“Right now we just aren’t playing scrappy and quick enough start to finish to win some of these tougher battles,” the Rebels mentor added. “We have it in us, we just need to figure out how to play with more of an edge throughout.”

USC was set to play St. Clair on Monday, Sept. 11, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva on Tuesday, Sept. 12 and Randolph on Thursday, Sept. 14.

This week they will play on Tuesday, Sept. 19 at Triton and on Thursday, Sept. 21 at Maple River.

USC is now 1-2 (0-1 Gopher Conference).