By John RittenhouseThe Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots captured their first South Section 3A Tournament championship by sweeping Fulda 3-0 in Luverne Thursday.The Patriots, who had never advanced to a championship game in postseason play prior to Thursday’s match, proved they were the best team in the field by disposing of the Raiders in straight games.H-BC prevailed by scores of 25-19, 25-16 and 25-21 over Fulda, completing an impressive tournament that featured three match victories without losing a single game.The win upped H-BC’s season record to 20-5, a mark the Patriots took into the Section 3A championship match against Minneota Saturday at Southwest State University in Marshall. Read about that match on the front page of the sports section.Playing for a berth in the state tournament was something H-BC senior leader Erin Boeve didn’t consider at the beginning of the season.Boeve, who registered 35 kills and eight blocks during the championship match, said the Patriots’ goals were modest at the beginning of the year."Our big goal was to get out of the first round (of the South Section Tournament)," she said. "We were looking at winning a conference championship, but it didn’t work out. It was when we got the No. 1 seed for this tournament when I thought maybe we have a shot at this."Fulda, the No. 6 seed, stood in the way of H-BC’s title bid Thursday.The Raiders rallied to win their first two matches of the tournament, and Boeve expected Fulda to fight to the finish in the championship tilt. "We were confident coming into the match, because we had beat them during the season, but we knew they would come ready to play, too," Boeve said. "Fulda won its first two matches in five games by winning the last two games, so we knew we had to play the games out."The Patriots didn’t let Fulda gain any momentum in the first game of the match.H-BC scored the first two points and led 9-3 after Boeve served a point.Fulda climbed to within four points (9-5) of the Patriots before H-BC went on a 10-5 run that ended with another service point from Boeve to make the difference 19-10.H-BC still led by nine (21-12) when the Raiders reeled off five consecutive points to make it a 21-17 game, but a kill and a block by Boeve ended a 4-2 surge by the Patriots that gave them a 25-19 win.Game 2 was tied at five before H-BC senior setter Melinda Sandstede served a four-point run following an H-BC point to give the Patriots a 10-5 advantage.Fulda battled back to trail by three (15-12), but an ace tip by Boeve capped an 8-1 H-BC run that gave the Patriots a commanding 23-13 lead.Boeve added a kill moments later to lock up a 25-16 victory for the Patriots.Game 3 proved to be the most competitive contest of the night.After H-BC scored the first two points, Fulda scored six straight counters to take a 6-2 lead.Sandstede tied the game at seven with a service point, and H-BC junior Kelly Mulder gave the Patriots a 13-11 edge with a kill as the game progressed.Fulda fought back to retake the lead at 17-16, but the Patriots countered with a 6-0 run capped by a block from Boeve to give H-BC a 22-17 advantage.The Raiders put together one more surge to trim the difference to two points at 23-21 before Mulder countered with a kill and a tip to give H-BC its championship with a 25-21 victory."It’s about time," Boeve said, about the fact that H-BC had just won its first postseason title. "It feels pretty good."Mulder had a big night at the net for H-BC by recording 15 kills and four blocks. Cassi Tilstra, Amanda Olson and Melinda Feucht added 10, five and four kills respectively to the winning cause.Brittney Rozeboom led H-BC in serving by completing all 18 of her attempts during the match. Tilstra was 12 of 13 serving. Feucht was seven of seven.H-BC coach Curt Doorneweerd, who was named the South Section 3A Coach of the Year after the match, said Ashley Bosch played a great match in the back row for the Patriots.
