Patriots sweep T-CC rival Ellsworth

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.