ELEVATION — Fairmont hitter Brylee Miller (right) leaps to smack a set from teammate Grace Pendergast (far left) for a spike over Luverne blockers Kira John (13) and Payton Behr (9) during volleyball action at the Big South Conference Showcase on Saturday night in Fairmont. Fairmont libero Mariah Moeller (24) watches the action. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — Luverne utilized a balanced four-pronged hitting attack to defeat Fairmont, 25-15, 25-19, 25-19, during volleyball action at the Big South Conference Showcase event Saturday at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont.

The frontline foursome of Ella Reisdorfer, Tori Serie, Kira John and Morgan Ahrendt equally combined for 32 kills, while Amira Cowell distributed a match-best 24 set assists to pace Luverne’s season-opening sweep in a battle of Cardinals.

“I was pleased with how every player contributed to the overall win tonight,” said Luverne head coach Sarah DeBeer. “For having only two players (Serie and middle hitter Kiesli Smith) with much varsity experience back, I thought the girls communicated well and had good chemistry within our rotations.

“Our juniors spent most of last season playing together on the junior varsity and that really helped them build a strong bond.”

Clinging to a 14-10 lead in Game 1, Smith proved Luverne’s point-producing catalyst from the service line by reeling off five unanswered points. Cowell utilized the spiking tandem of Ahrendt and Reisdorfer to pound out two kills apiece to extend their lead to 19-10.

“It’s nice to have Morgan (Ahrendt) back out for volleyball this fall. She’s been a great addition,” said DeBeer.

Sophomore spiker Brylee Miller, who generated a team-best 11 kills, and teammate Danika Eisenmenger cranked two spike-winners apiece off set assists from Grace Pendergast down the stretch for Fairmont, but their contributions could not prevent Luverne’s 10-point margin of victory in the opener.

“For a team that hasn’t played together much before tonight, I thought we held our own and kept it close against a strong team like Luverne during the second and third games,” first-year Fairmont head coach Liz Lowry said in reference to back-to-back six-point game losses. “I was proud of our girls’ effort.”

Pendergast, who doled out a team-best nine assists to complement four kills, literally served Fairmont to a quick 3-0 lead in Game 2 only to watch Luverne combine two kills each from Reisdorfer and Serie — and a pair of blocks from John — to eventually build a 10-7 lead.

Ahead 20-15, Cowell toed the end line and reeled off a pivotal three-point service run to shift the late momentum to Luverne for good. Serie later converted sets from Cowell into the final two team tallies to fend off Fairmont at 25-19.

Ahrendt and Reisdorfer then delivered their damage from the service area, combining for nine points en route to a quick 10-1 lead in Game 3. Ahrendt topped Luverne with 12 points overall on 17 of 18 serving, while Reisdorfer went 14 of 15 for nine points on the match.

Pendergast, Miller and Eisenmenger, however, kept chipping away at Luverne’s large lead to eventually inch within 24-17. Pendergast smacked a pair of Luverne overpasses to the hardwood floor for kills, and combined with Ellie Ortega to set up Miller for three kills down the stretch.

After Miller’s cross-court kill gave Fairmont a sideout at 23-12, Eisenmenger reeled off five unanswered service points to narrow the gap to six before John answered with a pivotal ace tip off a Hannah Sneller set assist at 24-17.

Sneller finished with 10 assists for Luverne, while Cowell scored nine points on 12-for-14 serving.

Fairmont (0-1) plays host to Waseca on Tuesday night in another conference match, while Luverne (1-0) travels to Edgerton on Tuesday for a non-league match with Southwest Minnesota Christian.

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Jackson County Central 3, Blue Earth Area 0 — Emma Haren connected for a match-best 16 kills to steer the Huskies to a sweep over the Bucs during Big South Showcase action Saturday in Fairmont.

Elese Paplow tallied four aces on 25-for-25 serving and distributed 17 set assists for JCC, while teammate Bailey Finck went 13 of 13 serving with two aces to complement 15 set assists.

Hailey Becker generated five kills, 10 set assists and four digs to help pace BEA’s effort, while Kylee Eckmann cranked a team-best seven kills.

Taylor Klabunde generated 10 points — including three aces — on 15-for-15 serving for the Bucs to go with a team-leading 12 digs and three kills.

Berkley Hagedorn went 11 of 12 at the service line with six points, Katherine Armon supplied six digs, Madelyn Ferguson chipped in four digs, while Kyla Roiger added two kills for BEA.

Blue Earth Area (0-1) travels to St. Peter on Tuesday, while JCC (1-0) plays host to Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda on Tuesday in Jackson.

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The Martin County West Mavericks posted a 2-1 record to capture second place during the Adrian/Ellsworth Invitational on Saturday in Adrian.

The Mavericks rallied for a 20-25, 25-22, 15-11 first-round win over Central Minnesota Christian, lost to host A/E by 25-17, 25-13 scores and bounced back for a 25-20, 25-20 triumph over Hills-Beaver Creek.

Liv Borchardt produced four aces on 25-for-28 serving and belted 10 kills for MCW, while Maddie Carlson went 18 of 20 at the line for four aces to go with 11 kills.

Emily Anderson generated a team-best 22 kills and seven solo blocks to complement an 18-for-20 service effort for the Mavericks, while setter Addy Wohlhuter doled out 23 assists to go with four aces behind 20-for-24 serving.

Emily Schettler distributed 17 set assists and went 10 of 12 serving for MCW, Courtney Anderson completed 9 of 10 serves, while Cami Clow added six kills and three solo blocks.

Martin County West (2-1) travels to Fairmont on Thursday night.