By John RittenhouseThe Luverne volleyball team posted one victory while competing in three outings since last Thursday.Luverne dropped a Southwest Conference match to Worthington at home Thursday before completing a 1-5 league campaign by losing a match in Pipestone Tuesday.Luverne went 1-5 during the Hull Western Christian Tournament in Hull, Iowa, Saturday, finishing ninth in a 10-team field.The 10-16-1 Cardinals complete the regular season by hosting Southwest Christian Monday.Pipestone 3, Luverne 0The Cardinals were unable to upset the Arrows when the teams squared off in a SWC clash in Pipestone Tuesday.Pipestone took advantage of openings the Cardinals were giving up defensively in the match while rolling to 25-15, 25-19 and 25-17 wins."Pipestone took advantage of our open spots on the floor," said Cardinal coach Lori Jacobs. "They saw the open spots and put the ball there. We didn’t cover the floor very well."Luverne’s Brittney Williams reached a milestone during the match by recording her 1,000th career ace set during the second game of the night. Williams, who had eight ace sets during the match, completed 11 of 13 serves with three aces and eight points.Chelsea Park, who had five ace sets, was six of six serving with three points and one ace. Cassie Pap was eight of nine at the line with three points and one a ace.Pap had three kills, two blocks and one ace tip at the net, while Stephanie Morgan added three kills, five blocks and one ace tip. Ashley Heitkamp recorded four blocks for the Cards.HWC tourneyLuverne went 1-5 and placed ninth during Saturday’s tournament in Hull, Iowa.The Cardinals struggled while losing four straight 2-0 decisions in pool play, but they ended the day on a positive note by winning a one-game match against Central Minnesota Christian in battle for ninth and 10th place."There were some strong teams there, but we played pretty well," said Cardinal coach Jacobs. "We could have done better. Our serving (93 percent) was excellent. We just need to work on hitting and passing some more."Luverne met the host team in the first round and dropped 21-18 and 21-15 decisions.Red Oak toppled the Cardinals by 21-12 and 21-13 scores in the second round, and Pella bested LHS by 21-13 and 21-19 tallies in the third round. West Monona saddled the Cards with a pair of 21-16 setbacks in the final round of pool play.Luverne recovered from its pool losses to best CMC 21-11 and finish ninth in the field.Pap (13 kills and seven blocks), Morgan (18 blocks and eight kills) and Heitkamp (nine blocks) had good tournaments at the net for LHS.Traci Evans (20 of 21 with 14 points), Heitkamp (21 of 22 with 13 points and two aces), Tera Boomgaarden (25 of 27 with 13 points and five aces) and Pap (25 of 27 with 13 points and four aces) served well for the Cards.Williams charted 34 set assists during the tournament.Worthington 3,Luverne 2The Cardinals let a possible conference win slip away when they entertained the Trojans Thursday.Luverne sported a 2-1 lead three games into the match, but Worthington rallied to post come-from-behind wins in Games 4 and 5 to prevail in a five-game match.Coming off a convincing 25-13 victory in Game 3, the Cardinals appeared to be in good shape when a kill by Callen Bosshart gave the hosts an 11-6 cushion in the fourth game.Worthington, however, put together a 7-1 surge to move in front 13-12 before the Cards regained the lead at 18-16 behind a block from Heitkamp.Luverne still was in a position to win the match when the score was tied at 22, but the Trojans outscored the Cards 3-1 the rest of the tilt to prevail 25-23 and force a fifth game.The Cardinals dominated the early stages of the finale and led 10-4 after Evans served a point.Luverne was two points away from winning the match when it sported a 13-10 advantage as the game progressed. Worthington, however, scored the next five points to ice a 15-13 victory.Game 1 was a tight battle that featured the teams being deadlocked at 17.Luverne gained some separation at the point by going on a 7-2 run capped by a service point from Maggie Kuhlman, and the Cards prevailed 25-20 when Boomgaarden delivered a game-clinching kill.Any momentum the Cards gained by winning the opener was lost in Game 2, when the Trojans never trailed by coasting to a 25-12 win.Game 3 was tied at seven when Luverne put together a 14-2 run that ended with Boomgaarden serving an ace for a 21-9 lead.Both teams scored four points the rest of the way as Luverne locked up a 25-13 victory.Morgan led the Cards with nine blocks and eight kills during the match, while Williams charted 26 set assists.Boomgaarden served 13 points and two aces, while Pap and Kuhlman served eight and six points respectively.
