By John RittenhouseThe Luverne volleyball team put together one of its strongest weeks of the 2004 season.Luverne went 3-0-1 and placed first at the Montevideo Tournament Saturday. The Cardinals returned home Tuesday to sweep a three-game match from Lincoln HI.The 9-3-1 Cardinals will play home matches against Marshall tonight and Lennox, S.D., Tuesday.Luverne 3, LH 0The Cardinals turned in a strong performance in front of their home fans during Tuesday’s 3-0 win over the Rebels.Luverne outscored Lincoln HI 75-44 on the way to a three-game sweep of the Rebels.After falling behind 1-0 in Game 1, the Cards put together an 8-3 surge capped by a service point from Chelsea Park to take an 8-4 lead.The Rebels closed the gap to one point at 8-7, but Luverne pulled away with a 17-7 run that ended with Traci Evans delivering a kill that locked up a 25-14 victory for the hosts.Evans came up with a kill to end a 10-2 spurt to start Game 2. The Rebels trimmed the difference to four points (12-8) as the game progressed. Luverne, however, led by 11 points (21-10) after Brittney Williams served a point to cap a 9-2 run that set the stage for a 25-16 win.Luverne led 7-3 when Chelsea Park delivered an ace serve early in the third game, but the Rebels countered with a 6-3 spurt to trail 10-9. The Cards answered the challenge by mounting a 15-5 run capped by a kill by Maggie Kuhlman that locked up a 25-14 win for LHS.Five Cardinals served well during the match. Williams was 14 of 15 with 10 points and eight aces, Kuhlman 15 of 16 with 10 points, Ashley Heitkamp 14 of 15 with nine points, Park 10 of 12 with three aces and eight points and Cassie Pap six of eight with three aces and five points.Pap led the Cards with nine kills and three blocks. Kuhlman and Evans chipped in six and five kills respectively, while Heitkamp charted two blocks. Park and Williams contributed 14 and 10 set assists respectively to the winning cause.Montevideo tourneyThe Cardinals turned in one of their most impressive performances of the season while going 3-0-1 and winning Saturday’s tournament in Montevideo.Luverne went 2-0-1 to win the four-team pool it competed in. The Cards then posted a 2-0 win over the host school in the championship match."We had a great day," said Cardinal coach Lori Oechsle. "We did everything well. It was a total team-effort. Everyone got to play, and all the kids played well."The Cardinals got off to a good start by winning their first two pool matches. Luverne saddled Yellow Medicine East with 25-14 and 25-21 setbacks before topping Lincoln HI by 25-11 and 25-13 tallies.Luverne split matches with Benson in the pool finale, which was good enough to secure a berth in the championship match.Benson nipped the Cards 25-23 in Game 1 of the final pool match. Luverne returned the favor by edging the Braves 27-25 in the second game.Luverne dominated play during the championship match against Montevideo, posting 25-16 and 25-18 wins over the Thunder Hawks."We had a really strong serving tournament," Oechsle offered. "We completed 90 percent of our serves, which is awesome. We also got rid of a lot of our unforced passing and hitting errors.Heitkamp (42 of 42, 28 points and six aces), Evans (22 of 24, seven aces and 14 points) and Kuhlman (32 of 34, 18 points and one ace) led the Cards in serving. Park was 26 of 33 with 21 points and six aces at the line. Williams was 39 of 45 with 27 points and four aces.Evans, Kuhlman and Heitkamp led the Cards with 22, 21 and 19 kills respectively. Heitkamp and Pap charted 13 and eight blocks.Williams and Park contributed 44 and 31 set assists to the winning cause.