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No. 10 Saints down Bucs in volleyball

By Kevin Mertens - Staff Writer | Sep 24, 2023

Autumn Gorden, in her first game of the season, led BEA with nine kills against the St. Peter Saints.

St. Peter, the No. 10-ranked team according to the latest Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association poll, defeated the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers 25-15, 25-20 and 25-18 on Sept. 21, in a match played in Blue Earth.

“I was happy with our effort and energy tonight,” BEA coach Donna Nawrocki said. “We were able to get into our offense and we played better than last Tuesday. But, give St. Peter credit, they have a good team.”

The first game saw the Saints pull away from an early 3-3 tie behind the serving of Emmy Remmert to take a 12-3 lead.

BEA kept fighting and scored six of the next seven points to cut St. Peter’s lead to 13-9.

The Saints regained the momentum and won the first game 25-15.

The Bucs had their best opportunity for a victory in the second game. The Maroon and Gold jumped out to a 3-0 lead and maintained a three-point lead until the Saints scored three consecutive points to tie the game at 12-12.

A side out gave BEA a 13-12 lead and an ace serve by Autumn Gordon put the home team on top 14-12.

The teams battled to a 16-16 tie before the Saints took the lead for good at 17-16. The Bucs kept the score close and only trailed by two points at 21-19 before St. Peter pulled away for the 25-20 victory.

It looked like the visitors were going to run away with the third game when they broke a 4-4 tie to take an 8-4 lead.

However, the Bucs scored four straight points to knot the score at 8-8.

St. Peter was leading 16-13 when they tallied three consecutive points to open up a 19-13 lead. Although BEA was able to close the gap to 19-16, they were unable to overtake the Saints who closed out the contest with a 25-18 victory.

Gordon, playing in her first game of the year, led the Bucs with nine kills, two ace blocks and nine points on 13-of-15 serving.

Hailey Becker had a team-high 16 set assists while also contributing seven digs and eight service points on 14-of-15 serving.

Taylor Klabunde led the team in digs with 14. She had two service points while going 5-for-6 at the service line.

BEA travels to New Ulm on Tuesday, Sept. 26, to take on the Eagles.

St. James 3, BEA 0

The Blue Earth Area volleyball team ended up on the wrong end of a three-game sweep when they went on the road to take on the St. James Area Saints last Tuesday, Sept. 19.

The Saints won 25-17, 25-23 and 25-9.

“It was a very sluggish evening for us,” BEA coach Donna Nawrocki said. “We never found our rhythm.”

Hailey Becker and Berkley Hagedorn each were credited with five service points for the Bucs. Becker was 8-for-10 from the service line while Hagedorn was 9-for-11 with one ace. Kylee Eckmann was a perfect 8-for-8 serving with one ace and two points.

The defense was led by Taylor Klabunde with 16 digs while Becker finished with eight.

Also contributing to BEA’s defensive effort were Kyla Roiger and Becker who each had an ace block.

Tailor Douglas led the team with four kills. Roiger and Becker each had three and Hagedorn and Anna Mwangi each had two.

Becker led the team with 12 set assists.