The Ellsworth volleyball squad ended a three-game losing streak when they swept a three-game Tri-County Conference match against Faith Christian in Bigelow Tuesday.
The skid reached three straight with a three-game home loss to Westbrook-Walnut Grove Monday and a four-game setback at Edgerton Public School Thursday.
Ellsworth, 5-13-2 overall, will compete at the Lake Park (Iowa) Tournament Saturday before ending the regular season with a home match against Murray County Central Monday.
Ellsworth 3, FC 0
The Panther girls completed a two-win conference season by sweeping a three-game match from the Falcons in Bigelow Tuesday.
Ellsworth produced a pair of solid victories to open the match before winning a tight battle in Game 3 with many Panther reserves playing in the finale.
"FC has improved a lot during the year, but we were clicking on all cylinders. We played pretty well," said Panther coach Ryan Nielsen.
EHS was at its best in Games 1 and 2, when it outscored the Falcons 30-11 while notching 15-2 and 15-9 wins.
Game 3 was more competitive, but the Panthers came out on the winning end of a 16-14 decision.
Connie Lewis had five blocks and Jamie Leuthold had three kills to lead the Panthers at the net.
Tiffany Deutsch was 11 of 11 serving with 10 points and four aces.
W-WG 3, Ellsworth 0
The Panther girls were unable to win a game when they hosted Red Rock Conference member W-WG in a non-conference match in Ellsworth Monday.
Ellsworth scored 23 points in three games, but it wasn’t enough to post a win against the Chargers.
"We played pretty well, they just are a tough team," said Panther coach Nielsen. "We did our best. What it boiled down to was they are a better team."
W-WG opened the match with a 15-7 win in Game 1 before posting a convincing 15-4 victory in the second game. The Panthers put up a good fight before falling 15-12 in the finale.
Holly Timmer led the Panthers with seven kills.
Kayla Boltjes was four of five digging, and Tiffany Deutsch was 50 of 54 setting.
Edgerton 3, Ellsworth 1
A solid performance by the Panthers wasn’t enough to produce a home win when they squared off against conference rival Edgerton Thursday in Ellsworth.
Ellsworth played its way to a split during the first two games of the match before dropping the last two contests of a four-game clash.
"They got us, but this was a good match for us," said Nielsen. "We played a lot better than we did in our last match. We battled pretty hard in a close match. It seemed like one team would get a lead, and the other would fight back."
Edgerton drew first blood by posting a 15-11 win in the opener, but the Panthers evened the score by recording the last two points in a 16-14 win in Game 2.
Game 3 was tied at eight before the Flying Dutchmen scored seven straight points to prevail 15-8. Edgerton settled the issue with a 15-11 win in the finale.
Jenna Groen led the Panthers with eight kills in the match. Holly Timmer had seven kills and five blocks. Connie Lewis served five aces.