By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
BLUE EARTH – A disappointing and injury-plagued season came to an abrupt end in the opening round of the sub-section tournament.
Coach Joe Kuechenbecker’s fifth-seeded New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva volleyball team were swept in three games by fourth-seeded Blue Earth in the quarterfinal round of the South Sub-Section 2AA Tournament at Blue Earth last Thursday. The Panthers made it to the sub-section championship game before losing to Le Sueur-Henderson last season.
The Bucs outscored NRHEG 75-56 in winning 25-19, 25-19 and 25-18.
The Panthers had defeated Blue Earth in a tournament during the season.
Blue Earth, the South Central Conference champion, raised its record to 20-7-3 for the season. The Buccaneers were scheduled to meet top-seeded Le Sueur-Henderson in the semifinals.NRHEG finished a disappointing 10-16-3 for the year. The Panthers, who lost six of their final seven matches, had won 23, 18 and 23 matches the previous three years.
NRHEG managed just a 3-10-2 record on the road this fall.
Krista Hassing paced the Bucs with 10 kills, eight blocks and seven digs.
Janessa Jahnke contributed 12 kills and 10 digs, plus a 10-11 performance from the service line.
Ashton Hendrickson added 10 digs for the winners
Monica Krieger dished out 25 set assists and was 16-15 serving.
The NRHEG coaches failed to provide any individual statistics.
The sub-section championship will be held at Gustavus this evening.
The section title and a trip to state will be determined Saturday evening at Gustavus.
South Sub-Sect. 2AA Quarterfinals
NRHEG 19 19 18 56
BE 25 25 25 75
NEXT: NRHEG’s season is finished.