TRIMONT — It was a match filled with streaks.

St. James Area beat Martin County West by a score of 3-1 in nonconference volleyball action Tuesday night in Trimont. The Saints collected respective game scores of 28-26, 25-16, 21-25 and 25-18 to win.

St. James Area came back from a Mavericks’ 24-20 lead to win the opening game during extended play.

MCW and SJA fought through streaks of four-to-five points each way, building to a tie at 18.

MCW then built a 23-19 lead and looked to be in control, but a long serve gave St. James Area its 20th point. On the ensuing serve, a Makena Larson kill put the Mavericks one point from taking the first game.

But the Saints’ Maddie Brey used one of her game-leading 23 assists, this one leading to an Addie Bowers kill, to get the serve back, where Callie Radenbaugh won the Saints four more consecutive points to tie the score at 24-all.

After an unforced error going each way, MCW gave the Saints their first lead with one of the eight net violations combined between the teams.

With a 26-25 advantage, libero Chloe Mickelson served an ace to give the Saints a one-game lead.

The Saints continued the streaky trend to open the second game, going up 6-1 early. Then the Mavericks scored five consecutive points, including one on a combined block from Lange and Sami Meyer, to get within one point.

SJA built a lead, going ahead as far as 20-11. The Mavericks got back within seven, but never got closer.

Maverick head coach Hilary Elliott said her team needs to play more cleanly, but there were promising signs in the loss.

“Honestly, I thought we played a little sloppy tonight,” Elliott said. “I thought we could have come out a little bit more headstrong, I think we could have played a little better. I understand first-game jitters, stuff like that, we should have played a little more clean. Our passing needs work, but I feel like when we do things the right way. We’re a very hard team to stop.”

The Mavericks claimed their lone game victory via a comeback third set.

The Saints jumped out to a 10-5 lead, but the Mavericks grabbed multiple points each serve, while breaking each SJA serve to get within 13-9.

That’s when Emily Dunlop served the Mavericks to six straight points, largely by forcing Saints’ errors, to put the Mavericks ahead for the first time since Game 1 at 15-13.

The teams went back and forth to get to 20-17, then the Mavericks got to game point at 24-17. The Saints looked to go for another game-point comeback, but Dunlop blocked a Saints’ spike to give the Mavericks their winning point.

Hilary Elliott said the third-set comeback was caused by improved passing.

“They just finally started working together,” Elliott said. “We finally started running our middles, we started passing better, we started getting the ball to our hitters and that is huge for us.”

After the teams traded points to a tie at 10, the Saints scored five straight and never gave up the lead.

The Mavericks got as close as 20-18, but the Saints seperated, building to a 25-18 victory partly on three consecutive aces from Brey.

Meyer led the Mavericks with seven kills, while Bella Bicknase was MCW’s main facilitator with 11 set assists and Shaylynn Anderson had nine. Lange totalled five blocks and Dunlop blocked four attacks. Clow and Bicknase patrolled the Maverick defense, with Clow collecting nine digs and Bicknase totalling eight.

The Mavericks (0-1) go on the road to the Adrian Invitational on Saturday, while the Saints (2-0) play host to Waseca at 7:30 p.m. next Tuesday.

Waseca 3, Fairmont 0 — The Bluejays swept the Cardinals, 25-8, 25-21, 25-8, during Big South Conference action Tuesday night in Waseca.

Andrea Westcott distributed seven set assists and went 5-for-5 serving to top Fairmont, while Cassidy Schultz drilled six kills, made 11 digs and tallied one ace behind 5-for-7 serving.

Cambrie Anderson supplied three kills, five digs and 7-for-7 serving for the Cardinals, while Sabrina Segar doled out six set assists, made three digs and went 6 of 6 serving.

Natalie Tonne spiked out three kills, Sophie Johnson dug up nine opposing spikes, while Madysen Allen chipped in eight digs for Fairmont (0-2), which plays host to St. Peter on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

St. Peter 3, Blue Earth Area 0 — The Saints shut out the Bucs, 25-18, 25-9, 25-7, during Big South action Tuesday night in St. Peter.

Eloise Blair made nine digs and went 5-for-5 serving for Blue Earth Area, while teammate Gabby Haaland tallied four digs and went 10-for-10 serving with five points.

Maci Frommie, Heidi Herrmann and Brita Hougen each delivered two kills to top the Bucs, Liz Beeler distributed eight set assists and Miya Gustafson tallied three points on 5-for-5 serving.

Blue Earth Area (0-2, 0-1 BSC) plays host to New Ulm on Tuesday, Sept. 3.