Luverne junior hitter Cassie Pap delivers a spike during Monday’s home volleyball match against Southwest Christian. Pap served 11 points and two aces during a 3-2 loss to the E-Gals.By John RittenhouseA late rally by Southwest Christian gave the E-Gals a 3-2 victory over Luverne in the regular season volleyball finale for both teams Monday in Luverne.The Cardinals were in a position to make Senior Night a special one for team leaders Tera Boomgaarden, Callen Bosshart and Stephanie Morgan as they sported a 2-1 lead after three games.SWC, however, used late surges in Games 4 and 5 to win the five-game battle.The loss ends Luverne’s 10-17-1 regular season.The Cardinals open the South Section 3AA Tournament in Jackson Friday. Sixth-seeded LHS takes on No. 3 Pipestone 25 minutes after a 6 p.m. match between Martin County West and Windom.Luverne will take back-to-back losses into the tournament, but the Cards had the opportunity to knock off the E-Gals Monday.The score was tied late in both the fourth and fifth games, with SWC managing to pull out victories.Two ace serves by Traci Evans gave the Cards an 8-5 advantage in Game 4, and Luverne led by three (13-10) when Boomgaarden served a point.SWC used an 8-3 surge to gain an 18-16 edge, but the Cards battled back to knot the score at 18 with a kill and a service point from Bosshart.The E-Gals went on a 7-0 run at that point to post a 25-18 win and knot the match at two games each.Game 5 was tied at two when SWC forged in front 7-4 with a 5-2 rally.The Cards tied the game at seven with a service point by Ashley Heitkamp, but the E-Gals countered with a 6-2 run to open a 13-9 lead.Luverne scored four straight points and tied the game at 13 with a block by Morgan before SWC scored the final two points of a 15-13 win.The Cardinals opened an 8-2 lead in Game 1 after Cassie Pap served four consecutive points.SWC pulled to within one point of the Cards at 20-19 at the end of a 17-12 rally before Luverne countered with a 4-1 surge capped by a service point from Boomgaarden to gain a 24-20 lead.The E-Gals scored two more points before the Cardinals recorded the final counter of a 25-22 win.Game 2 was tied at four when SWC put together a 5-0 run to open a 9-4 advantage.The Cardinals trimmed the difference to two points (16-14) with a 10-7 surge capped by a service point from Heitkamp.SWC, however, extended its lead to six points (21-15) before locking up a 25-20 win to knot the match at one game each.Brittney Williams served three straight points to help the Cardinals open a 7-3 lead in the third game of the match.SWC battled back to tie the game at seven, and no more than two points separated the teams the rest of the game.The score was tied at 24 when Bosshart produced a kill and Evans served a point to clinch a 26-24 victory for LHS.Williams, who registered 25 set assists during the match, led the Cardinals with 12 service points and three aces. Pap added 11 points and two aces.Bosshart and Boomgaarden led LHS with nine and eight kills respectively. Morgan and Heitkamp added eight and five blocks to the cause.
