Luverne volleyball ready for section playoffs at month's end

The Luverne volleyball team fell to the Huskies 3-1 in Jackson Tuesday, Oct. 5, after a battle, with three of four games ending in no more than a three-point span.
The Cardinals downed MCC at home Oct. 5 (see related story) and will travel to Adrian Friday, Oct. 15, and Hills Oct. 21 before section playoffs begin Oct. 29.
Throughout the first game with Jackson, both the Cardinals and Huskies were stingy on defense and within two points of each other almost the entire game. 
Jackson scored first with powerful serves, but Luverne quickly recovered with a pass from Trista Baustian to Reghan Bork who set Anja Jarchow for a kill. 
They immediately followed that up with a dig by Macy Stratton to Baustian who set Elise Ferrell for the kill. Luverne gained a one-point advantage with a play by Stratton, who passed it to Reghan Bork to set assist for Elise Ferrell to get it over the net.   
Luverne was either trailing behind the Huskies or tied with them for the first half of the game. 
Then, a kill by Ferrell and a block by Christina Wagner put Luverne in the lead for the next seven serves. 
Baustian assisted Morgan Ahrendt on a kill, Kamryn Van Batavia executed a dig to Baustian who assisted Ahrendt for another kill, and Stratton got a dig to Bork who assisted Ferrell on a kill. 
After that, it was alternating points by each team until they were tied at 25 each.  An out-of-bounds by Luverne and a powerful kill by the Huskies gave the win to the Huskies, 27-25.
The Huskies came out aggressive in Game 2 with a kill to get them on the board first.  Luverne responded with a pass from Jarchow to Bork who assisted Ferrell to put the ball over with a roll on the net before dropping on Jackson’s side. 
Luverne then slowly fell behind with a series of uncharacteristic mishaps and some forceful Huskies kills, eventually putting themselves behind by nine points.
 A Jarchow dig to Bork who set for a Ferrell kill decreased the gap by one, but the Huskies pulled away again to increase the point spread by 10 to put them at 24, needing one more point for the win. 
Luverne fought back with Van Batavia serving and her team backing her up.  Jarchow and Ahrendt put up a powerful block against the Huskies to keep the ball in Cardinal possession. 
Baustian then passed to Van Batavia who set it up for Ahrendt to deliver the attack.  Ferrell followed that up with her own attack. 
In consecutive plays Van Batavia dug a pass to Baustian who set Ahrendt for the attack.  Jarchow and Ahrendt teamed up for three blocks to keep the Cardinals going. However, a Huskies kill stopped the Cardinal comeback for a 25-22JCC win in Game 2.
In a “do or die” situation the Cardinals started Game 3 with a Bork pass to Jarchow who assisted Ferrell on the kill for the first point. 
The Cardinals lost the lead but quickly gained it back when Jarchow passed it to Bork who sent it to Ferrell for a light tap over the net. 
The Huskies delivered a couple of offensive plays to put them back in the lead, and they seemed to stop the Cardinals at five points on the board with the gap increasing with each Huskies attack to put Jackson up by six points. 
The Cardinals clawed back with a Baustian pass to Bork who set Ferrell to punch it through a Huskies block. 
Van Batavia got a dig to Bork who passed it back to her, and Van Batavia put it over the net. A couple of Cardinal and Huskies errors and a Huskies ace serve put Luverne behind by six again. 
The Cardinals dug their heels in again with Stratton diving to save the ball when the Huskies attempted to put it in the Cardinal hole, and the Huskies’ return went out of bounds. 
The Huskies committed a few errors and Wagner registered a kill to put Luverne within two points.
 Jackson called a timeout and seemed to gain a slight advantage, but a block by Jarchow and Van Batavia put a stop to the Huskies’ short run.
 A couple of point-earning serves by Van Batavia tied the Cardinals with the Huskies for the first time since early in the match.  Luverne fell behind by two when a Luverne block was blocked in return, giving the point to Jackson, and the Huskies followed up with a kill. 
Not giving up, Stratton dug a pass to Baustian who set for a fierce Ferrell kill, which the Huskies responded to with a kill of their own to tie the game at 24. 
Luverne capitalized on an out-of-bounds Huskies kill to win Game 3 26-24 after Baustian anticipated a rebound off a Huskies block and returned the ball to JCC who couldn’t recover it.
Jackson, upset by the Cardinals win, came back strong in Game 4, getting the first point on the board. 
Luverne responded by playing equally well in an extended volley that ended with Jackson hitting the ball out of bounds.
Not deterred, Jackson delivered an attack that Stratton dug to Baustian who set for a Ferrell kill. 
Jackson responded in kind to tie the game at two, but a series of errors and an ace serve by Jackson put Luverne behind by five points. 
Trying to catch up, Bork set an assist to Wagner who put it over.  Jackson increased their lead by six, and Luverne attempted to stop them with a block by the duo of Wagner/Ahrendt and a later dig by Ferrell to Baustian who set assist for Ahrendt who put it over the net. 
Not long after that, Van Batavia executed a dig to Bork who sent it to Ferrell for the kill. 
A couple of out-of-bounds attacks by the Huskies and a Stratton-to-Bork, back to Stratton back-row attack decreased the point spread to three points, which would be the closest the Cardinals would get to the Huskies in Game 4.  
Luverne had one successful offensive play after that with Van Batavia getting the dig to Bork who set Baustian for the kill. 
Luverne tried to stop the Huskies run with two blocks by Wagner, but Jackson claimed Game 4 by a score of 25-13 and won the match 3-1.
Coach Sarah DeBeer said the game was a great match-up between two equally talented teams. “We hope to see them again during the section tournament,” she said.
 
Stat highlights:
Serves: Christina Wagner 16/17 with 2 aces; Macy Stratton 15/16 with 1 ace
Digs: Macy Stratton 12; Elise Ferrell 10
Set assists: Reghan Bork 15; Trista Baustian 12
Blocks: Morgan Ahrendt 3 assists; Anja Jarchow 1 solo and 3 assists
Kills: Elise Ferrell 16