By John RittenhouseTwo teams trying to earn their first post-season berth in a volleyball championship game squared off in the Luverne Elementary School Tuesday.Hills-Beaver Creek and Ellsworth, a pair of squads that had never played in a post-season title tilt before, met in the semifinal-round of the South Section 3A Tournament.It was H-BC, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, which lived to play another day.The 19-5 Patriots rolled to a 3-0 victory over No. 5 Ellsworth, giving H-BC a berth in tonight’s 7:30 p.m. championship game in Luverne.H-BC will play No. 6 Fulda, a 3-2 winner over No. 2 Southwest Christian Tuesday, for the championship in the elementary school.The Patriots took care of business against the EHS Panthers.H-BC won all three games by 10 or more points, outscoring the Panthers 75-39 overall."We played aggressive, hard volleyball," said Patriot coach Curt Doorneweerd. "We became a little lazy against Adrian Friday (a 3-0 H-BC win in the quarterfinals), but we played hard all the way in this match."The score was tied at two in Game 1 when the Patriots went on a 4-0 run capped by a service point from Cassi Tilstra to open a 6-2 lead.Ellsworth trimmed the difference to one point (8-7) with a service ace from Laurel Drenth, but H-BC countered with a 16-5 run capped by a pair of service points from Erin Boeve to open a 24-12 cushion.When Ellsworth was whistled for a net violation moments later, H-BC notched a 25-13 win.Drenth gave Ellsworth its first lead of the night at 1-0 with a tip to open the second game.The score was tied at two when H-BC reeled off seven straight points capped by a kill from Brittney Rozeboom to gain a 9-2 lead, but the Panthers countered with a 3-0 run that ended with Amy Timmer serving an ace to make the difference 9-5.H-BC scored the next 12 points to open a 17-5 lead, and led 19-6 after Kelly Mulder produced an ace block.Ellsworth pulled to within 11 points (20-9) of the Patriots with a kill by Brittney Kramer, but the Patriots increased the lead to 14 points (24-10) with a service point from Rozeboom before winning by 14 (25-11) in the end.The Panthers scored the first two points of Game 3 and led 7-4 after Amanda Deutsch recorded a kill.EHS still led by three (9-6) when H-BC put together a 6-0 run that ended with Rozeboom serving a point to give the Patriots a 12-9 lead.H-BC increased its lead to seven points (17-10) with a point from Tilstra, but the Panthers made the difference 17-12 moments later when Amy Tiesler served a point.A kill by Ellsworth’s Drenth made the score 21-15 late in the game, but H-BC put together a 4-0 run capped by a kill from Amanda Olson to win the contest 25-15.Tilstra (20 of 21), Rozeboom (13 of 14 with one ace), Boeve (nine of 10 with one ace) and Olson (six of six) served the ball well for H-BC.Boeve led the Patriots with 17 blocks and 16 kills. Tilstra recorded five kills, and Mulder added two kills and two blocks.Ellsworth, which ends its 13-13 season, received a seven-kill, three block performance from Kramer. Drenth added four kills.Deutsch and Tiesler charted eight and six digs respectively for EHS.Timmer led EHS by completing eight of nine serves and recording one ace. Marla Groen and Lynette Drenth charted five and three set assists respectively.
