ABOVE: Fairmont's Jadyn Montgomery goes up for the spike while her teammates Ellie Ortega (10) and Leslie Zarling (11) get into position to back her up during a Big South Conference volleyball match in Fairmont Tuesday night.

FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Cardinals would not go away Tuesday night, forcing the New Ulm Eagles to fight for every point clear into the fifth set before the Eagles secured the victory 25-21,17-25, 21-25, 25-23, 16-14 in a Big South Conference volleyball matchup Tuesday night.

Fairmont head volleyball head coach Elizabeth Lowry said while it was unfortunate to lose a close match like this, she was proud of her players and said they played well.

“They played phenomenal, they played amazing,” she said. “I am very, very proud of them. I can’t say how much more proud I am of every single girl on that court, every single girl on the bench. They played and they cheered with such excitement and they had such high energy.”

Taking the lead for the Cardinal squad was Brylee Miller with 20 kills and 30 digs and Meredith Nemmers, who had 11 kills and 15 digs. Ellie Ortega added eight kills and 19 digs, while Jadyn Montgomery had four kills and four blocks and Makayla Lowry notched three kills and a block. Mariah Moeller added two kills and 20 digs also for the Cardinals, while Leslie Zarling had 40 assists and 15 digs, Ava Rodning had 21 digs and Alexis Fuller added 17 digs.

The Cardinals came out in Set 1 giving up a 3-0 run to the Eagles. It wasn’t long until the Eagles jumped out to a 16-11 lead. The Cardinals tried to battle back, but the Eagles maintained their lead through the eternity of the first and never allowed the Cardinals within 3 points.

The second set came up in the Cardinals’ favor, who found their rhythm and got out to an 8-3 lead. Fairmont gave up a handful of points before extending their lead to 14-8. The Eagles tried to rally back, putting up 17 points before a handling error locked in the 25th and final point for the Cardinals.

The Eagles opened the scoring in the third set, getting out in front of the Cardinals 12-8. This seemed to ignite the Cardinals, who were able to tie things up 14-14. The Eagles responded with a 4-0 run before the Cardinals regained possession with the score sitting at 18-14. The Cardinals pulled close on the scoreboard with the score in favor of the Eagles 21-20. This set off a rapid attack by the Cardinals, who went on a 5-0 run closing the set with a Brylee Miller kill.

Set 4 was a back and forth battle between the two teams with neither team having more than a 3-point lead at any point but ultimately ended in favor of the Eagles to force the tiebreaker set. The fifth set was nothing short of a battle of wills. The Eagles opened with a 6-0 run to which the Cardinals responded with a 5-0 run of their own. The teams found themselves sitting on a 14-14 tie, but the Eagles were able to drive home the last 2 points, securing the victory.

Leading the Eagles was Makena Meier with 11 kills and three blocks and Mackenzie Enter, who had six kills, 11 digs and 17 assists. Morgan Hulke put up four kills, 12 digs and added a block, while Brooklyn Lewis added four kills, six digs and a block. Josie Sellner had four kills and three digs, while Cali Koop had a kill and six digs and Lauren Schmiesing added three aces a kill and three digs.

Fairmont (4-16, 1-5) heads to St. Peter on Monday for their next match.