By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek became a victim in an upset to open the South Section 3A Volleyball Tournament in Luverne Friday.
The third-seeded Patriots had to be considered the favorites when they took on No. 6 Edgerton in a quarterfinal-round match in Luverne High School.
Edgerton, however, threw a wrench in the tournament's seedings by nipping H-BC 3-2 in a tightly-contested, five-game match.
The win sent Edgerton to Tuesday's semifinals in Luverne. The loss capped H-BC’s 10-12-3 season.
Although the teams were separated by three seeds for the tournament, the H-BC and Edgerton coaching staffs anticipated a close contest based on prior results.
H-BC swept a three-game match from the Flying Dutchmen in Edgerton on Oct. 1, but Edgerton received some revenge when it topped the Patriots 2-1 during the Subway Tournament in Marshall two weeks later.
Friday's tilt proved to be the rubber match of the season series, and Edgerton battled back from a 2-1 deficit in games to come out on top.
"It probably was the closest match we played all year," said Patriot coach Curt Doorneweerd. "As is always the case, someone had to lose. Unfortunately, it was us."
H-BC got off to a good start in Game 1 by building an early lead and turning it into a 15-13 victory.
Edgerton evened the match at one game each with a 15-6 win in Game 2, but the Patriots regained the upper hand by strolling to a 15-9 victory in Game 3.
The Patriots were on the verge of putting the Flying Dutchmen away when they sported a 13-9 cushion in Game 4, but H-BC didn’t get the job done.
Edgerton reeled off six straight points to steal a 15-13 win, and the momentum it gained with the rally carried over into a 15-5 victory in Game 5.
"We had a 13-9 lead in the fourth game, and we couldn't finish it off. That was the turning point because it gave them momentum," Doorneweerd said.
Erin Boeve had 21 kills and 10 blocks at the net to pace the Patriots. Sarah Rozeboom added 10 kills, Kelly Mulder had four kills and five blocks, Angie Sjaarda had three kills and one block, and Amanda Olson added one block.
Sjaarda and Melissa Fagerness served three and one aces respectively for H-BC.