Blooming Prairie
BLOOMING PRAIRIE – The Panthers, who were swept in three straight games by the Blossoms a week earlier, took Blooming Prairie to the limit before losing in five games at Blooming Prairie Oct. 16.
BP opened with an easy 25-15 win in the opening game, but the Panthers were just as dominant in a 25-16 triumph in game two.
The two conference foes then traded wins in a couple of close games. BP won 25-20, before the Panthers squared the match with a 25-22 victory.
The two squads battled back and forth in the decisive game, deadlocked 10-10. But, BP ran off the final five points of the match to capture the win, outscoring NRHEG 103-95 for the night.
“We did a lot of things better which put us in a position to win the match,” said Kuechenmeister. “We were unable to close things out, but were right there.”
Carlie Wagner pounded 20 kills and had four ace blocks in the match. Jade Schultz delivered 11 kills with three ace blocks.
Paige Overgaard and Katie Cole chipped in with eight kills apiece, and Raelin Schue added four kills.
Noelle Bartness dished out 46 set assists for NRHEG.
Wagner and Kalana Shurson had 12 digs apiece, Schultz, Bartness and Hannah Lundberg contributed 10 digs apiece and Cole chipped in with seven digs.
Cole also delivered four aces from the service line.
The Blossoms finished 6-3 (4th) in the conference and are 19-7-2 for the year.
Jackson
JACKSON – The Panthers ran into a hot squad when they traveled to Jackson Monday to tangle with the Jackson County Central Huskies.
Jackson outscored NRHEG 75-52 in winning 25-17, 25-19 and 25-16.
Jackson, which has won its last six matches and 12 of its last 13, climbed to 21-5 for the season.
“Though we didn’t get a win, we continued on our way back to playing at a high level,” said Kuechenmeister. “We have to give credit to Jackson for playing a great match. They are the best team we have played all season.’
Schultz paced the Panther offense with nine kills, two more than Wagner.
Bartness handed out 19 assists in the match.
Cole led the NRHEG defense with six digs, and Schultz chipped in with three digs. Wagner, Bartness and Shurson all had two digs.
“To go into Jackson’s gym and compete with them throughout the majority of the match is a definite confidence boost for us,” said Kuechenmeister.
NRHEG received the fifth seed in South Sub-Section 2AA and will open the tournament at fourth-seeded Blue Earth tonight. The Panthers beat BE in a tournament during the season.
The sub-section semifinals are on Tuesday at Mankato East. A Panther win would match them against the winner between top-seeded Le Sueur-Henderson and eighth-seeded Maple River in a 5 p.m. match.
The sub-section championship match is next Thursday at Gustavus.
