Kate Armon passes the ball during a match played on Blue Earth Area’s home court earlier this year.

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers returned to Big South Conference volleyball action on Monday night, Oct. 2, when they traveled to Waseca to face the Bluejays.

Waseca won the opening game 25-18 before BEA evened the match at one game apiece with a 25-20 triumph in the second game.

The Bluejays took the third game 25-18 and put the match away with a 25-11 victory in game four.

Leading the Bucs on defense was Taylor Klabunde with 22 digs. Tailor Douglas and Kate Armon each had 12 digs and Hailey Becker finished with 10.

Becker led the BEA defense at the net with three ace blocks while Autumn Gordon had two and Kylee Eckmann finished with one.

Becker also led the team with 17 set assists. Madison Ehrich finished the game with eight set assists.

Gordon led the Maroon and Gold with eight kills. Douglas finished with six kills, Becker with five and Eckmann with four. Armon, Berkley Hagedorn, Kyla Roiger and Anna Mwangi each had two kills.

Hagedorn, Klabunde and Ehrich each finished with six service points. Hagedorn was 10-for-11 serving, Klabunde was a perfect 13-for-13 serving with one ace and Ehrich was 9-for-11 with three aces. Douglas and Eckmann were each credited with four service points.

The loss dropped BEA’s conference record to 2-6 and their overall record to 5-12.

St. Clair Tournament

The Blue Earth Area volleyball team participated in the St. Clair Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 30 and finished in fifth place.

West Lutheran 2, BEA 0

West Lutheran defeated the Bucs 25-20, 27-26 in the opening round of the tournament.

Taylor Klabunde led the team in digs with eight and in service points with seven.

Hailey Becker topped the team with 13 set assists. Kylee Eckmann paced the team with five kills while Autumn Gordon had four to go along with two ace blocks.

BEA 2, St. Clair 0

Hailey Becker was credited with a team-high nine service points and the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers defeated the St. Clair Cyclones 25-23, 25-16.

Becker hit all 12 of her serves and pocketed three aces. Madison Ehrich added eight service points while going 10-for-12 at the service line with two aces. Taylor Klabunde made all nine of her serves with one ace and five points.

Leading the team in kills with five was Becker followed by Tailor Douglas and Autumn Gordon with four each. Kylee Eckmann recorded two ace blocks in the winning effort.

Becker also led the team with nine set assists. Ehrich had six.

Klabunde tallied 18 digs while Douglas had seven.

Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s 1,

BEA 1

Blue Earth Area and Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s each won one game when the two teams met on the volleyball court. However, SESM got credit for the victory because they had the most total points.

The Knights won the first game 25-16 before the Bucs took the second game 25-21.

Autumn Gordon had a solid game and led the Bucs with six kills. She also had six service points and two aces while making all eight of her serves.

Berkley Hagedorn added four kills while Tailor Douglas and Kylee Eckmann each had three.

Hailey Becker was the leader in set assists with nine, with Madison Ehrich chipping in with six.

Taylor Klabunde led the defense with 12 digs followed by Kate Armon with six.

Becker was the leading server with eight service points on 11-for-11 serving with two aces.

BEA 2, United Christian Academy 1

Blue Earth Area finished the tournament on a winning note with a 22-25, 25-12, 15-5 victory over the United Christian Academy Thunder in the battle for fifth place at the St. Clair Invitational Tournament.

After dropping the first game 25-22, the Bucs took control in the second game and produced a 25-12 victory. In the deciding third game, BEA won by 10 points, 15-5.

Taylor Klabunde led the defense with 15 set assists followed by Madison Ehrich with five and Kate Armon with four.

Leading the team in set assists were Hailey Becker with 10 and Madison Ehrich with eight.

Autumn Gordon led the way at the net with seven kills and two ace blocks. Tailor Douglas finished with five kills, Kylee Eckmann had four and Berkley Hagedorn had three.

Klabunde led the Bucs with 12 service points on 15-for-16 serving. Hagedorn also had a good game at the service line. She tallied eight service points and one ace while making all 11 of her serves. Ehrich finished with six service points and Becker had five.