Both teams were coming off home wins on Monday, but it was the Patriots who extended their winning streak by besting the Panthers 3-0.
The victory ups H-BC’s season record to 10-5. Ellsworth slips to 4-11-2.
The Patriots posted a pair of convincing wins to open the match before completing the sweep with a hard-fought win in Game 3.
H-BC got off to a great start by putting together a 10-0 run to start the match. Jamie Arp served two points and one ace, Becky Broesder served one point, one ace and had one kill, Erin Boeve had a kill and a block, Tonya Leenderts served an ace and LaDonna Sandstede served a point during the rally.
Ellsworth snapped the run when Holly Timmer served a point to make it 10-1, but the Patriots countered with a 5-2 run featuring kills by Shanna Tilstra and Broesder, one service point by Sandstede, and one point and an ace serve by Rachael DeHaan that gave them a 15-3 win.
H-BC led 2-1 in Game 2 before Tilstra served a point and registered a block, and Boeve had one kill, one block and an ace tip that gave the Patriots some separation with a 7-1 advantage.
After Julie Pommer served a point for the Panthers to make it 7-2, H-BC’s Jana Hup served two aces, Jody DeNoble served two aces and a point, and DeHaan added an ace serve during a 6-0 surge that gave the Patriots a commanding 13-2 lead.
Connie Lewis served two points and an ace to bring the Panthers within eight points at 13-5, but an ace serve by Tilstra and a point by Arp clinched a 15-5 win for H-BC.
Ellsworth got off to a good start in Game 3 with Lewis serving two points and an ace and Pommer recording a pair of kills to give the hosts a 5-0 cushion.
The Panthers were sporting a 6-2 lead when H-BC reeled off six straight points (two ace serves by Boeve, one kill and one block by Tilstra, and one service point each by DeNoble and Broesder) to gain an 8-6 lead.
H-BC still was leading by two points (13-11) when Boeve put away a 15-11 win with a kill and an ace tip.
"We played really well in the first two games," said Patriot coach Nicole Fey. "The kids came out and played real aggressively. They knew they were in a slump, and they wanted to change it by showing people what can happen when they play really hard."
For Ellsworth, which received six kills by Pommer and four blocks by Lewis, playing in three competitions in the past four days may have taken a toll on the team.
"I think our kids were shot," said Panther coach Ryan Nielsen. "We had games all day Saturday and one on Monday, and we were definitely missing something in this match. I don’t want to use that as an excuse, but I thought we could have played a lot better."
Tilstra and Boeve led the Patriots at the net with nine kills each, while DeNoble and Arp served eight and seven points respectively. Sandstede charted 24 set assists for the winners.
H-BC will compete at the Pipestone-Jasper Tourna-ment Saturday. Ellsworth hosts Edgerton tonight and Westbrook-Walnut Grove Monday before playing Faith Christian in Bigelow Tuesday.

After dropping a one-point decision to Litchfield Sept. 25, the Cardinals had a chance to make up for the loss with a game against a Marshall squad that had won one game entering Friday’s clash at Cardinal Field.
Instead of improving its position in the race for a SWC title, Luverne came back to the pack. Marshall scored 14 first-half points and never trailed in a game the Tigers eventually won by a 27-19 decision.
The loss left Luverne with a 2-1 conference mark, looking up at league unbeaten Jackson County Central in the standings. The setback has set the stage for what LHS coach Joel Swanson considers a must-win situation when the Cards travel to Redwood Falls tomorrow to meet a Redwood Valley team that takes a 1-3 conference mark into the game.
"We’re still in the conference race, but this will be a really big game for us. It’s gut-check time, and we’ll find out what we’ve got in our stomachs. What happens in this game probably will determine how the rest of our season will go," Swanson said.
The Cardinals will need to avoid the type of first half they experienced against Marshall in order to experience success in Redwood Falls.
Tiger senior Ben Wiener came up with a pair of big plays that gave Marshall a 14-0 halftime advantage.
A lost fumble ended Marshall’s opening possession of the game, but it needed only two plays to take the lead with its second possession. After a six-yard gain on first down, Wiener escaped for a 58-yard touchdown run at the 5:09 mark of the opening quarter. A missed extra-point attempt kept the score at 6-0.
Wiener’s second big play came when the Tigers were on defense in the second quarter.
Luverne had moved the ball inside Marshall’s 30-yard line when Cardinal quarterback James Fisher dropped back to pass. After being hit by a Tiger defender, the ball was jarred out of Fisher’s hands.
Wiener nabbed the ball out of the air and raced 74 yards for a touchdown with 5:30 remaining in the first half. A successful conversion pass made the difference 14-0.
Falling behind early in games has become a common trait for the Cardinals.
"We have to come out ready to play in the first quarter," Swanson said. "We’ve had bad starts in the first quarter all season, and we’ve got to turn that around. Maybe it’s my fault for not getting the kids ready to play, but I don’t know. For some reason we’re getting handled in the first quarter of our game, and we have to stop it."
Luverne dominated play in the third quarter while trimming Marshall’s lead to one point.
The Cards received the kick to start the second half and mounted an eight-play, 68-yard drive that ended with Zach Skattum scoring on a 10-yard run 3:31 into the third quarter. Fisher’s extra point cut Marshall’s lead in half at 14-7.
Luverne’s scoring drive featured two key penalties (10-yard pass interference infraction and a 15-yard face-masking penalty) on the Tigers.
The LHS defense kept the newly-gained momentum by forcing the Tigers to punt five plays into their initial possession of the second half.
The Luverne offense took over on its own 36 and covered 64 yards in seven plays before Tony Sandbulte scored from four yards away with 2:48 remaining in the third quarter.
A mishandled snap during the extra-point attempt led to an incomplete conversion pass, keeping the Tigers in front 14-13.
Luverne got the ball back when a Tiger receiver fumbled after a completed pass, and Sandbulte recovered the loose ball on the LHS 12 with 1:27 remaining in the third quarter.
The Cards picked up two first downs before giving the ball back to Marshall at the LHS 36 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Nine plays later, Tiger quarterback Sam Wiener tossed a six-yard touchdown pass to Travis Bredeson in the back of the end zone. A pass for the conversion fell incomplete, leaving the Tigers with a 20-13 cushion with 7:58 left to play.
After the Tiger defense forced LHS to punt three plays into its ensuing possession, Marshall put together a nine-play, 63-yard drive that was capped by Sam Wiener’s two-yard touchdown run with 3:21 remaining. Cody Vincent booted the extra point to increase the lead to 27-13.
As grim as the situation looked at that point, Luverne made a serious bid to knot the score in the final three minutes of the game.
With a 52-yard pass from Fisher to Andrew Norton moving the ball deep into Marshall territory, a six-play, 72-yard drive ended with Fisher tossing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Luke Iveland during a fourth-and-three situation with 1:47 left to play. A blocked extra-point attempt kept the Tigers in front, 27-19.
Luverne was unsuccessful in its attempt to recover an on-side kick, but the Cards got the ball back when Marshall fumbled three plays later and LHS defender Ryan Goebel recovered on Luverne’s 39 with 47 seconds left.
A five-yard penalty on the Tigers and a 12-yard reception by Jordan Papik moved the ball to the Marshall 44, but the threat ended when Bredeson picked off a Fisher pass with 35 seconds remaining.
"You have to give Marshall credit," Swanson said. "They came out and really took it to us in the first half. They did some really nice things, stepping up in a lot of situations and making the plays. That’s a credit to them, and we need to do more of that. We just made too many mistakes."

Team statistics
Luverne: 198 rushing yards, 153 passing yards, 351 total yards, 16 first downs, nine penalties for 80 yards, three turnovers.
Marshall: 119 rushing yards, 226 passing yards, 345 totla yards, 12 first downs, seven penalties for 66 yards, two turnovers.

Individual statistics
Rushing: Skattum 9-61, Fisher 7-52, Kyle Crable 13-38, Sandbulte 6-37, Brad Walgrave 2-7.
Passing: Fisher 9-20 for 153 yards.
Receiving: Iveland 5-77, Crable 2-12, Norton 1-52, Papik 1-12.
Defense: Skattum two sacks, Sandbulte one fumble recovery, Goebel one fumble recovery.

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek had its way with Tri-County Conference rival Ellsworth during a volleyball match played in Ellsworth Tuesday.

By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne volleyball team experienced some ups and downs while playing a pair of road matches since last Thursday.
The Cardinals beat Worthington in a four-game match to record their first Southwest Conference win of the campaign Thursday, but they came up on the short end of a 3-0 score in Jeffers against Red Rock Central Tuesday.
Luverne, 8-7-1, is bracing for its busiest stretch of the season that includes competition in four of the next six days.
The Cards host Pipestone-Jasper and Martin County West today and Monday respectively. The Hull (Iowa) Western Christian Tournament is set for Saturday, and Luverne plays Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in Tyler Tuesday.

RRC 3, Luverne 0
A solid Falcon squad ended what was a two-match winning streak for LHS when the teams met in Jeffers Tuesday.
RRC, a talented team led by four strong seniors, outscored the Cards 45-28 during a three-game sweep.
"We played hard, but our weaknesses really showed up against a lot quicker team," said Cardinal coach Mary Jo Graphenteen. "We dug up a lot of balls, we served tough and we received serves fairly well. We just couldn’t score."
The match started in a promising way when the Cards took a 13-9 lead in Game 1, but the Falcons scored the next six points to pull out a 15-13 win.
RRC went on to post 15-5 and 15-10 wins in Games 2 and 2.
Susan Remme led LHS with eight kills. Tracey Scheidt, who was 13 of 14 serving, added six kills.

Luverne 3, Worthington 1
The Cardinal girls produced their first conference victory of the season when they bested the Trojans in a four-game match in Worthington Thursday.
Luverne came up on the short end of the first game of the clash, but the Cards raced to early leads in the next three games and won each contest to give them a 1-3 SWC record for the campaign.
"With the exception of the first game when we made a lot of mistakes, this was a really good match for us," said Cardinal coach Mary Jo Graphenteen. "We came back after that first game and did some really good things. I really felt we took another step forward in this match."
Worthington had its way in Game 1 by securing a 15-8 win, but the rest of the match belonged to LHS.
The Cards scored the first seven points in Games 2 and 3 while rolling to 15-5 and 15-10 wins.
Luverne scored the first five points of the fourth game and led 5-4 before outscoring the Trojans 10-5 the rest of the way to win 15-9.
"Our floor play is getting better," Graphenteen added. "We’re digging up a lot of balls and making them playable. Our serving was in the 90-percentile range, too. We’ve really improved a lot since the beginning of the season."
Susan Remme and Tracey Scheidt led the Cards at the net with 19 and seven kills respectively.
Scheidt was 20 of 22 serving with 14 points, and Brooke Lundgren was 20 of 21 with 13 counters.
Graphenteen said Emmy Bush filled in for the injured Emily Kuhlman as a middle hitter and did a nice job.

By John Rittenhouse
What had been a comfortable situation for the Luverne High School football team had turned into a desperate one at the conclusion of Friday’s homecoming game against Marshall.
After posting three straight wins to open the campaign, including two victories against the 1999 Southwest Conference co-champions (Windom and Worthington), Luverne’s season has soured.

The following essay by Amanda Saum, Luverne, was published in the September issue of The High School Writer, a national publication. Her essay was labeled an "Award Winner," which according to teacher Elizabeth Petersen, has happened just once before to a Luverne student. Saum is now an 8th-grader but wrote the essay last year.

Lake Miltona
By Amanda Saum
I love to go to my grandma and grandpa's lake cabin on Lake Miltona. Lake Miltona is about a half an hour away from Alexandria. In August we always have our family reunion there. It is my favorite place to be. It's a long drive, but it's definitely worth it!

The lake cabin is, to me, the most relaxing place. My cousins and I walk around barefoot almost all the time. When you first step into the lake, you can feel the warm water splashing at your heels. The soft, muddy sand on the bottom oozes between your toes. As you wade out farther, you start to feel waving green seaweed twist around your legs. The light breeze lifts up your hair. You jump up onto the scorching inner tube. With a little push, you glide gently through the water. Once you are out quite far there is no more rocky sand or seaweed. You dive down, and the warm water surrounds you. The sun shines brightly with an orange glare as you sit back in the inner tube and drift about. Swimming is one of my favorite things to do at the cabin.

The beach is also a great place to be. The soft, sugary sand slides in between your toes. Tiny white shells litter areas of the beach. An ashy bonfire pit contains only the burnt remains of last night's roasted marshmallows. There is an old wooden swing to sit on. You push back and forth, the wind blowing lightly at your face. It's a great place to sit back, drink a pop, and read a book. You now get up from the swing and walk toward the dock. You step on the wet slabs of stone. Now you feel the hot metal under your feet. The dusty fishing boat sits to the right. Almost every grandchild has had a photo taken in a bright orange life jacket at the far end of the classic fishing spot. Sitting down on the dock on a hot day to dangle your feet in the water is wonderful.

One of the most fun things to do at the lake cabin is to go for a paddleboat ride. My cousins and I strap on our life jackets, pile up into the paddleboat with cans of pop in hand, and push off. Away we go, gliding across the lake, The wind is blowing, you drift your hand through the water, and rest your tired legs. You lean back for a suntan, the waves rolling, as the boat rocks you to sleep.

Another favorite spot at the cabin is the hammock. Across the lush green grass between two trees hangs the white hammock. My cousins and I like to take turns lying in it. We rest easily there and are shaded from the hot sun. It is the perfect place to lay back and have an afternoon nap.

Our day is over. We head back to the cabin. The soft, mossy ground squishes under our bare feet. An unfinished croquet game is scattered across the huge lawn. You climb up on the old deck. You can feel the rough wooden boards under your feet. Into the cabin you go, up the steep stairs, and onto one of the 10 comfy beds. You pull the light blanket over yourself and pull the shade over the dark window. As the shade comes down, you see mosquitoes buzzing and the faded yellow lights of fireflies. As you close your eyes you hear the faint calls of loons. A car rolls down the gravel road. Tomorrow we will feed the geese old bread, go swimming, lie in the hammock, rock in the swing, go for a paddleboat ride, walk on the beach, have water balloon fights, and roast marshmallows. Just another day at the lake.

By Jolene Farley

Taxpayers in the Adrian School District will vote once again Tuesday, Dec. 19, on a bond referendum concerning construction of a gymnasium and parking changes at the high school.

After heavy debate, the Adrian School Board members voted 6-1 at their regular meeting to allow voters to decide if a new gym is needed by the Adrian School District.

The Adrian voters passed a $4.9-million bond referendum last December for improvements to the district's elementary school facilities, but they voted no on a $2-million bond referendum for the high school gym and parking changes.

The $4.9-million bond issue passed easily with a vote of 637 to 374. The second question on the ballot concerning construction of the new gym was narrowly defeated by a vote of 502 to 466.

After December's vote, area citizens immediately began the effort to bring the gym referendum to the ballot once again.

A petition was circulated around Adrian and was presented to the Adrian School Board with more than 400 signatures. The board agreed to hire the DLR Group, Minneapolis, the same architectural firm that designed the elementary school addition, to consult with the citizens' group to work on gym design.

The citizens' group and architects new plan includes more seating area, extra storage, a wrestling room and a fitness room that could possibly be used as a community fitness center.

"This is a no-frills plan. If we just put up a gym it would not solve many of our problems," said Coach Randy Strand, "and costs just keep going up."

The price tag on the new design is $2.8 million.

"The biggest negative is the dollar figure," said Darwin Veld, chairman of the Adrian School Board.

The school board planned to keep the referendum at the $2.2 million figure. The higher figure is due to increased construction costs and design changes. Construction costs have increased 10 percent over last year, according to Amcon CM, construction manager for Adrian's elementary project.

"We as a group went above the $2.2-million figure," said Strand, also a member of the community group studying the gym bond issue.

"The general feeling of the group was that the members of the community that were opposed would be opposed whether the bond issue was $2.2 million or $2.8 million," he said. "Construction costs keep going up, but the need does not go away."

The Rock County Sheriff’s Department is warning of a possible phone scam affecting the area. At least two individuals have contacted the Sheriff’s Department with questions.
A caller, saying he is from Sunrise, Fla., working with Credit Benefits Service, asks for Social Security number, bank account number and date of birth. He also asks for an automatic withdrawal account to set up a credit line.
The Sheriff’s Department checked, and there is no business called Credit Benefits Service in Sunrise. Never give personal information over the phone to unknown people.

By Ronnal M. McClure, Sheriff of Rock County
With the extremely dry conditions that continue throughout southwest Minnesota, it is necessary that area residents be very careful with any outdoor burning.
Minnesota Open Burning Permit holders are reminded that they must abide by the requirements that are printed on the backside of the permits.
It is strongly suggested that all unnecessary burning be delayed until conditions improve and that any other burning be conducted very carefully and if possible, during the evening hours.
The sheriffs of southwest Minnesota would prefer not to have to issue a ban on open burning at this time. Please be careful with any essential outdoor burning. If in doubt, wait until conditions improve.