By John RittenhouseThe Ellsworth volleyball team opened the South Section 3A Tournament by recording a slight upset Friday in the Luverne Elementary School.Taking on fourth-seeded Edgerton in the quarterfinals, No. 5 Ellsworth avenged an early-season loss by sweeping a three-game match from the Flying Dutchmen.The win upped Ellsworth’s season record to 13-12 heading into a clash against No. 1 Hills-Beaver Creek in the tournament’s semifinals Tuesday.Look for the game story from that match on the front page of the sports section.Ellsworth played like it was the favorite when it upended Edgerton Friday.Showing no signs of being intimidated by an Edgerton team that swept the Panthers in three games Sept. 15 in Ellsworth, EHS was able to come from behind in all three games Friday to end the Flying Dutchmen season."I was really happy for our girls," said Panther coach Jason Langland. "They came out ready to play. Edgerton had leads in all three games, but we battled back to win them all."All three games of the match were decided by no more than three points.The Panthers notched a 25-22 win in the opener before posting 26-24 and 25-23 victories in Games 2 and 3 respectively.Langland said making an adjustment in the front row seemed to pay off for the Panthers Friday."We switched things up a little bit and I think it helped us. We moved Amy Tiesler to the middle position from the outside, and we moved Laurel Drenth from the middle to the outside," he said."Sometimes switching things around makes the opposing team be honest, and it worked for us against Edgerton."Drenth responded by producing nine kills from the outside. Tiesler had eight kills and six blocks in the middle.Brittney Kramer added six kills and eight blocks to the winning cause.Tiesler led EHS in serving by completing all 17 of her attempts with one ace. Amanda Deutsch was 15 of 16 at the line. Drenth was 11 of 11.Drenth, Tiesler and Deutsch led EHS with 13, 10 and seven digs respectively.Lynette Drenth and Marla Groen added 12 and seven set assists to the winning cause.
