The Panthers won a hard-fought 3-1 decision at Wells, with game scores of 25-11, 26-28, 25-15, 29-27.
"We knew coming into the match that USC would be gunning for us,” said Kuechenmeister. “They've traditionally had a pretty good program so we anticipated a tough match. We were able to come away with the 3-1 win, but we once again were too streaky. All things considered, we earned a conference win in a tough environment on the road, and I was proud of the girls for that."
Individually: Schlaak 25 kills, 8 digs; Wagner 14 kills, 9 digs, 4 aces; Schultz 6 kills, 18 digs; Vokoun 6 kills, 12 digs; Bartness 33 assists.
In pool play at Blue Earth, NRHEG downed Minnesota Valley Lutheran 2-0 (25-21, 25-14), USC 2-0 (25-12, 25-18) and Medford 2-1 (22-25, 25-14, 15-6). In the championship, the Panthers defeated the host team 2-1 (25-12, 17-25, 15-6).
"This was a big time win for us,” said Kuechenmeister. “The girls played well through the majority of pool play, and we earned a spot in the finals against section opponent Blue Earth Area. We played tough in games 1 and 3 against a very tall and talented BEA team, and we're excited to have won the entire tournament. This win definitely gives us momentum heading into may be our toughest match of the season on Tuesday night against Faribault B.A."
The Panthers hosted BA, the No. 1 ranked team in the state, on Tuesday. They entertain JWP Oct. 6 and Blooming Prairie Oct. 11.
