Luverne junior Callen Bosshart lunges at a ball during Monday's home volleyball match against Martin County West. The Cardinals dropped a four-game match to the Mavericks.
By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne volleyball team recorded its first Southwest Conference victory in two seasons when it swept a three-game match in Worthington Thursday.
The conference win was followed by 3-1 losses to Martin County West in Luverne Monday and to Brandon Valley in Brandon, S.D., Tuesday.
Luverne, 10-9-1 overall, hosts Pipestone Area tonight before playing at the Hull Western Christian Tournament Saturday and taking on Redwood Valley in Redwood Falls Tuesday.
BV 3, Luverne 1
The Cardinals received their first taste of playing volleyball by South Dakota rules when they traveled to Brandon Tuesday.
South Dakota rules feature rally scoring and 25-point games, and the Cards were unable to adjust in time to record a victory.
After falling 25-12 in the first game, LHS did bounce back to knot the match at one game each with a 25-22 win in Game 2.
The rest of the night belonged to the Lynx as the hosts posted 25-14 and 25-19 in Games 3 and 4.
"It was different," said Cardinal coach Mary Jo Graphenteen, when asked about what she thought about playing under South Dakota's guidelines.
"I thought we did some good things in the match, but I also think we got beat by the better team. BV is a senior-dominated team that is taller and more athletic than we are. We had our chances, but we didnÕt capitalize on some of our opportunities."
Rashel Boeve led the Cards with 13 kills. Stephanie Morgan, who was seven of seven receiving, and Tara Boomgaarden chipped in 12 and six kills respectively.
Taylor Nelson was seven of eight serving. Lyndsie Johnson registered nine set assists.
MCW 3, Luverne 1
The Cardinals were unable to record back-to-back wins when they hosted the Mavericks Monday.
A win for LHS in Game 2 tied the match at 1-1, but MCW prevailed in Games 3 and 4 to take the match.
Luverne fell behind 5-0 in Game 1 before pulling to within one point of the Mavericks twice at 6-5 and 8-7 with kills from Johnson and Morgan respectively.
The Mavericks answered the challenge by putting together a 6-0 run to open a 14-7 advantage before clinching a 15-10 win in the end.
Luverne controlled play early in the second game before MCW pulled within one point at 6-5.
The Cards responded with a 7-3 surge featuring three service points from Boomgaarden, a point and a kill from Cassie Pap, a point from Morgan and a block from Boeve to gain a 13-8 advantage that was washed away when MCW went on a 7-1 run to move in front 15-14.
Luverne, however, bounced back with a kill from Boeve, a block by Morgan and a point from Emily Oksness to win by two.
The Cards faced a 5-1 deficit in the third game before taking a 6-5 edge with three points from Boomgaarden, one from Pap and a kill by Boeve.
MCW then took control of the game with a 10-0 run that gave the Mavericks a 15-6 victory.
Game 4 was a tight one featuring ties at three, seven, eight, nine and 10.
The Cards whittled a 14-11 deficit to two points (14-13) with a tip by Boomgaarden and an ace serve from Johnson, but MCW scored the next point to clinch a 15-13 win.
Boomgaarden completed 20 of 21 serves and recorded 14 points for the Cards, who received 20 set assists from Johnson.
Morgan led LHS with 12 kills. Boeve recorded eight kills, while Pap and Oksness chipped in six kills each.
Luverne 3,
Worthington 0
The Cardinals posted their first conference win in two seasons when they swept a three-game match from the Trojans in Worthington Thursday.
The win didn't come easy as the Cards had to come from behind to win two games, the prize of snapping what was a 12-match SWC losing skid dating back to Sept. 28, 2000.
"It was a big conference win for us," said Cardinal coach Graphenteen. "It's been a while since we've come to school on Friday after winning a conference match on Thursday. Since it (the win) came during homecoming week, it was pretty cool."
A late rally in Game 1 sent the Cardinals on their way to victory. Trailing 14-12, Luverne put together a 4-0 run to steal a 16-14 win.
The Cardinals controlled play while posting a 15-2 win in the second game, but they fell behind 6-1 in Game 3 before going on a 14-3 run to secure a 15-9 victory.
Morgan led the Cardinals at the net with 13 kills. Boeve charted six kills, while Pap and Oksness added five each.
Johnson, who led the Cards with 17 set assists, was 22 of 23 serving with 18 points. Pap went 13 of 17 serving with 11 points and three aces.
Pap and Boomgaarden were cited for doing a good job of receiving serves by Graphenteen.