USC’s Karly Koehler receives a serve during the Rebels’ match against the JWP Bulldogs on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

The United South Central volleyball team fell 3-1 to the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Bulldogs on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

After losing the first two games, the Rebels fought back and won the third in a tight set, but then lost the fourth set.

The scores were 25-16, 25-23, 26-28, 25-21.

“We were right there tonight against a solid JWP team,” coach Joe Kuechenmeister said. “If we play a bit more consistent in the latter stages of sets 2 and 4, we could have been on the opposite end of the 3-1 loss very easily.”

The coach added that the Rebels still battled when they were out of sync passing and things weren’t flowing.

“We certainly fought better after the first set, we just had too many strings of points where we didn’t get an in system swing and JWP took advantage of that,” he explained.

Chloe Bullerman led the way with 12 kills, four blocks, two digs and an ace.

Hannah Warmka had eight kills, two blocks and two digs, Madison Passer had six kills, 11 digs and one block, Alivia Bruegger had five kills, seven digs, two blocks and one ace, and Jaelyn Stangler had four kills and three blocks.

Karly Koehler had 22 digs, three assists and one ace and Eleny Korn had 35 assists. Presley Brandenburg added nine digs and two aces.

“Quick shout out to our seniors as they played their final game here at home,” Kuechenmeister said. “It was nice to be able to recognize them and the body of work they’ve put together in their time as Rebel volleyball players prior to the match. I can’t say enough good things about Madison, Hannah, Eleny and Karly, and their leadership has pushed this team to success this year.”

USC is now 13-12 (4-6 Gopher Conference) and the Rebels play again on Monday, Oct, 21, in the first round of the Section 2A playoffs. The No. 9 seeded USC Rebels will travel to Truman and take on the No. 8 seeded ML/GHEC/T Jaguars with the opportunity to advance to the Section Quarterfinals.

USC 3, Hayfield 1

The United South Central Rebel volleyball team defeated the Hayfield Vikings 3-1 in volleyball action on Friday, Oct. 11.

After the match was tied up at 1-1, the Rebels won the next two sets to take the 3-1 win.

“The kids battled well tonight, and once again we got to see that ‘Never Say Die’ mentality at work,” coach Joe Kuechenmeister said. “In each of the first three sets we were down at one point or another, and the kids just battled and found a way on the road.”

Chloe Bullerman had a big night with 15 kills, four digs, seven blocks and one assist. Madison Passer added 13 kills, 16 digs and an ace.

“Madison Passer had a great all around night for us with very few errors,” the coach said. “She took some huge swings in the first set, harder than she’s ever hit the ball in her career. It’s nice to see her at the top of her game as she winds down her senior year.”

Hannah Warmka added 10 kills, seven digs and two blocks. Alivia Bruegger had four kills, 11 digs and one block. Jaeylyn Stangler added two kills, one dig and two blocks.

Eleny Korn had 38 assists, eight digs and one ace. Karly Koehler had 20 digs, two assists and two aces.