Luverne junior hitter Traci Evans fields a serve in front of teammate Tera Boomgaarden during the annual Cardinal Volleyball Tournament in Luverne Saturday. Luverne went 1-3-1 to place sixth in the event. The tournament was played after a 3-2 LHS victory over Redwood Valley in Luverne Thursday.By John RittenhouseThe Luverne volleyball team finished the second week of the season with a 4-3-1 overall record after playing a Southwest Conference opponent and hosting a weekend tournament.The Cardinals rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win a thrilling five-game match against SWC foe Redwood Valley in Luverne Thursday.Luverne went 1-3-1 and placed sixth during the annual Cardinal Tournament Saturday.Luverne will compete at the Sioux Falls Washington Tournament Saturday before playing a match in Lennox, S.D., Tuesday.Cardinal tourneyThe Cardinals played their way to a sixth-place finish in a 10-team field during their annual tournament staged in Luverne Saturday.Luverne went 1-2-1 to place third in their pool and lost a match against Worthington for fifth and sixth place to complete the day with a 1-3-1 record."Things went pretty well for us overall," said Cardinal coach Lori Jacobs. "We had a few concerns with our passing and our blocking, but we were going up against some pretty good teams, so I was happy overall."Luverne met Edgerton in the tournament’s first round and earned a tie. Edgerton pulled out a 27-25 win in the opener before the Cards posted a 25-19 win in Game 2.The Cardinals proceeded to drop consecutive matches to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton and tournament champion Jackson County Central.The R-T-R Knights recorded 25-23 and 25-14 wins over LHS. The JCC Huskies rolled to 25-10 and 25-15 victories over the Cards.Luverne completed pool play by registering 25-21 and 25-12 wins over Springfield to account for the team’s lone victory during the event.Worthington upended LHS by 25-19 and 25-17 scores in the match for fifth and sixth place.Callen Bosshart led the Cards with 21 kills for the tournament. Cassie Pap and Stephanie Morgan added 16 and 12 kills, respectively. Brittney Williams, who had 57 set assists during the event, added seven tip kills to the cause.Morgan led the Cards with eight blocks for the day. Tera Boomgaarden was 42 of 43 serving with two aces. Ashley Heitkamp was 36 of 38 at the line with five aces.Luverne 3, RWV 2The Cardinals opened Southwest Conference play by pulling out a thrilling, five-game victory over Redwood Valley in Luverne Thursday.Things looked bleak for the Cards when they dropped the first two games of the match to RWV, but LHS battled back to win the final three games and match their output in SWC wins in 2002."The endurance of our girls was the key," said LHS coach Jacobs. "They had the stamina to play hard through all five games."RWV controlled play while securing 25-17 and 25-21 wins in the first two games of the match, but the Cardinals regrouped to post convincing 25-16 and 25-9 victories in Games 3 and 4.Game five was tight the entire way, with the Cardinals pulling out a narrow, 15-13 win."We pulled together and played a lot better in Games 3 and 4," Jacobs offered. "We worked well as a team and turned things around at a crucial time in the match."Stephanie Morgan led LHS with 11 kills and three blocks.Tera Boomgaarden, Cassie Pap and Callen Bosshart recorded seven kills each. Boomgaarden and Pap served three and two aces respectively.Brittney Williams contributed 32 set assists and four ace serves to the winning cause. Ashley Heitkamp added six kills, five blocks and three ace serves.
