The Blue Earth Area volleyball team hosted the Jackson County Central Huskies on Tuesday, Aug. 26. JCC, who has had a strong volleyball program in recent years, came into the contest ranked ninth in the Minnesota Volleyball Association Class AA preseason poll.

The Huskies got off to a strong start in the first set and limited the Bucs to just 10 points in claiming the win. JCC continued by winning the second set 25-14 and secured the match with a 25-13 triumph in the third set.

Taylor Ripley had eight set assists for the Bucs with Averi Blair and Hailey Hanson each finishing with three kills. Blair also recorded one ace block.

BEA was led on defense by Isabel Vargas with 10 digs. Hanson, Ripley and Marissa Wright each finished with five followed by Blair and Samantha Meyers with four each.

The Bucs’ top server for the night was Wright. She was a perfect 12-for-12 at the service line with one ace and eight points. Ripley was 6-for-7 serving with two aces and two points. Blair was also credited with two points on 5-for-7 serving.

The Bucs were scheduled to travel to New Ulm on Friday, Aug. 29, to take on the Eagles. They will be at home again on Tuesday, Sept. 2, to host the Maple River Eagles. Look for results of those two contests in next week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.

MVL 3, BEA 1

The Bucs went on the road on Aug. 22 to take on the Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers in a Section 2AA volleyball match.

Blue Earth Area got off to a good start with a 27-25 triumph in the first set but the Chargers regrouped to win the next three sets 25-16, 25-9 and 25-21 to claim the match victory.

Taylor Ripley had a good all-around evening with a team-leading 10 set assists while going a perfect 17-for-17 at the service line including four aces. She was credited with nine service points and also had seven digs on defense.

Hailey Hanson led the Maroon-and-Gold with eight kills. She also contributed six digs and was 8-for-9 at the service line with two points.

Isabel Vargas led BEA with 14 digs and was 10-for-11 at the service line with one ace and five points.

Samantha Meyers was credited with seven service points with two aces while hitting 13 of her 14 serve attempts. She also contributed five digs.

Marissa Wright was perfect on all 13 of her serves with one ace and six service points. She had seven digs on defense.

Averi Blair’s play at the net included three kills and three ace blocks. She had six service points and one ace on 11 of 13 serving.

Maddie Redepenning contributed at the net with three ace blocks.

Windom Area 3, BEA 0

Blue Earth Area opened their 2025 volleyball season by hosting the Windom Area Eagles on Thursday, Aug. 21.

The first set of the match was close with the Eagles pulling out a slim 25-23 victory. Windom Area then secured the match victory by winning the last two sets by identical 25-16 scores.

Isabel Vargas led the Bucs’ defensive efforts with 18 digs. Taylor Ripley had 12 digs followed by Samantha Meyers with 10, Hailey Hanson with seven and Marissa Wright with five.

Averi Blair led BEA at the net with five kills and five ace blocks. Hanson contributed four kills and an ace block. Maddie Redepenning and Samantha Meyers each had two kills and Redepenning also had an ace block.

Leading the Bucs in set assists was Ripley with 13. She also had eight service points while going 12-for-13 at the service line.

Meyers and Wright each had five service points. Meyers was a perfect 11-for-11 from the service line with two aces while Wright put nine of her 11 serves in play.

Cassie Hagedorn was 4-for-4 at the service line with one ace for two points. Vargas also finished with two service points on 5-for-6 serving.