By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva volleyball team continued its struggle to reach the .500 mark last week.
Coach Joe Kuechenmeister’s squad won two of five games at the Class AA Showcase Tournament in Burnsville, dropped a heartbreaking five-set match to Tri-City United and closed the busy week with 3-2-1 mark at the Blue Earth Invitational.
The Panthers are 2-2 in the Gopher Conference and 9-11-3 overall.
Showcase
BURNSVILLE - Facing some tough competition, the Panthers managed a 2-3 record playing in the Showcase Tournament at the Midwest Volleyball Warehouse in Burnsville Sept. 21-22.
“We ran into some great competition here,” said Kuechenmeister. “Our goal was to push some of the best teams in the state to the brink, and we were able to accomplish that.”
NRHEG lost both of its matches in pool play. The Panthers fell to Caledonia 25-14 and 25-17. Next came a 25-16, 19-25, 15-8 defeat to Thief River Falls.NRHEG opened bracket play with a 2-1 victory over Concordia Academy by scores of 19-25, 25-23 and 15-13.
The Panthers bounced back with a 25-22, 13-25, 15-12 triumph over Chatfield.
NRHEG dropped a 2-1 decision to Greenway, 21-25, 25-23, 15-7 in its final match of the weekend.
Carlie Wagner smashed 53 kills during the weekend. She also had 10 ace blocks. Jade Schultz followed with 16 kills, Katie Cole delivered 15 and Paige Overgaard ended with 11.
Noelle Bartness dished out 102 assists for the tournament.
Schultz, Wagner and Cole all reached the 20 digs mark for the weekend. Schultz led with 24 digs, Wagner finished with 23 and Cole contributed 20.
Schultz led the team with six ace serves, two more than Hannah Lundberg.
“Being able to come away from this tournament with a couple of match wins against quality teams was a highlight,” said Kuechenmeister. “We feel like we’ve begun to turn the corner now. We did some really nice things both offensively and defensively.”
TC United
MONTGOMERY – NRHEG was able to close out a 2-1 lead, losing in five games to Tri-City United in Montgomery Sept. 25. The Titans improved to 12-1 for the season.
NRHEG won the opening game 25-19, before TCU rebounded with a 25-16 victory.
A 25-20 Panther victory put them one game away from the upset.
However, the Titans won 25-22 to force a fifth game, and then outlasted NRHEG 20-18 to capture the match.
TCU outscored the Panthers 109-106 for the five games.
No other details were provided.
Blue Earth
BLUE EARTH – The Panthers, which won this tournament a year ago, put together a winning record for the day at Blue Earth Saturday. NRHEG finished 3-2-1 for the day.
The Panthers swept Albert Lea in their opening match, 25-21 and 25-22.
That was followed by a 25-19, 25-20 victory over conference rival United South Central.
The Panthers and Minnesota Valley Lutheran battled to a tie in round three. MVL won the first game 27-25, but NRHEG earned the split with a 25-14 triumph.
Southwest Minnesota Christian handed the Panthers their first loss of the day by identical 25-17 scores.
NRHEG fought back to defeat section foe Blue Earth, 26-24, 25-23.
Martin County West ended the Panther day with a loss, winning 25-19, 25-15.
“We had a pretty good showing at the tournament,” said Kuechenmeister. “Beating a good Blue Earth team should help us for section seeding and confidence wise.”
Wagner had 54 kills and 11 ace blocks, Cole stepped up with 30 kills, Schultz nailed 26 kills, Overgaard delivered 17 kills and Raelin Schue added 11 kills.
Bartness handed out 120 set assists for the day.
Wagner also sparked the defense with 38 digs, Schultz contributed 23 digs, Lundberg picked up 20 digs, Cole and Bartness finished with 11 digs each and Kalana Shurson added 10 digs.
NRHEG will be on the road next week, facing Blooming Prairie Tuesday and Waterville-Elysian-Morristown next Thursday.