Chloe Bullerman (10), left photo, and Madison Passer (9), right photo, both get up in the air for a kill during a recent game at USC. The Rebels continue to battle but lost three matches last week. They return to their home court on Oct. 8, when they will host Blooming Prairie.

The United South Central volleyball team could not quite overcome a strong Medford squad and lost 3-0 on Tuesday night, Oct. 1.

The scores of the sets were 25-17, 25-21, 25-19.

“Unfortunately not much offense on our side of the net tonight,” coach Joe Kuechenmeister said after the match. “Medford won the in-system battle, as their passing allowed their big hitters to take cuts at the plane of the net. We had to operate from beyond the 10-foot line pretty consistently, and it’s hard to come through in a set when you’re on your heels.”

Chloe Bullerman led the team with nine kills, one dig, three blocks and one assist. Hannah Warmka had six kills and two blocks and Alivia Bruegger and Madison Passer each had three kills with Passer having 13 digs, one block and one ace and Bruegger adding seven digs and two blocks.

Eleny Korn had 20 assists, seven digs, two kills and one ace. Karly Koehler added 14 digs and two aces.

“There were too many freebies on unforced errors as well, and you just can’t do that against a Medford caliber team,” the coach added. “It’s certainly not an effort thing, our kids are working and trying to make adjustments, we’ve just kind of lost our rhythm the last two matches. We’ve got to find our focus and confidence in practice, hone in on our serve and serve receive game, and hash out some defensive trouble spots.”

USC is now 11-10 for the season and 2-4 in the Gopher Conference. They were set to play Faribault Bethlehem Academy this past Thursday, Oct. 3.

This week they host Blooming Prairie on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

Alden-Conger 3, USC 0

The United South Central Rebel volleyball team ran into a very talented Alden-Conger team on Monday, Sept. 30, and came out losing the match 3-0. The scores were 25-16, 25-19, 25-9.

“Alden-Conger is a great team,” coach Joe Kuechenmeister explained. “When you play an opponent of their caliber, you’ve got to be disciplined on your side of the net and we just weren’t able to do that consistently.”

Chloe Bullerman led the Rebels with six kills, four blocks and one dig. Madison Passer had five kills, 10 digs and one ace. Hannah Warmka had three kills, three digs and one block and Jaelyn Stangler had two kills, one dig and three blocks.

“We struggled on the first touch all night in serve receive, and because of that we had to send a lot of out of system balls over the net,” the coach added. “AC took advantage, and I felt like we were on the defensive the majority of the evening.”

Eleny Korn had 13 assists, six digs and one ace.

The coach said there were some definite bright spots in set one and two.

“There were some great block touches, and a good eye opener for the kids that we can compete at this level if we can maintain throughout the duration of the match,” he explained. “That, and staying aggressive with our arm swings are going to be huge if we want to take that next step as a team.”

WEM 3, USC 0

The United South Central volleyball team lost to the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers on Thursday, Sept. 26 by a match score of 3-0. The set scores were 25-19, 25-11, 25-18.

“Good battle tonight, but WEM is a solid squad. I give them a lot of credit for their serving and defense, and that made life tough for us all night,” coach Joe Kuechenmeister said. “We struggled to find ways to put the ball on the floor, and that had a lot to do with the sound defense they played.”

Madison Passer had six kills, 11 digs, one block and one assist to lead the team. Hanna Warmka had five kills, three digs, two blocks and one assist while Alivia Bruegger also had five kills, six digs, two blocks and one ace.

Eleny Korn had eight assists and eight digs. Jaelyn Stangler had three kills and three blocks and Chloe Bullerman had two kills and four blocks. Karly Koehler had 16 digs and one assist.

“Eleny Korn had a great night locating her sets and mixing the ball around to different hitters,” the coach added. “We took some nice swings and our block was effective at getting touches so those were bright spots as well. While it was a loss, it’s good to play a team of WEM’s caliber as we prepare for another weekend tournament where we hope to pick up some wins.”

The Rebels played on Saturday, Sept. 28 in the Nicollet Tournament.